#CrueltyFree World’s First: Lab-grown chicken meat to go on sale in Singapore’s restaurants
The Eat Just company has made considerable progress in lowering the cost and hopes to bring it down to below that of conventional chicken in the coming years.
AFP NEWS: Lab-grown chicken will soon be available in restaurants in Singapore after the country became the first to green-light meat created without slaughtering any animals. US start-up Eat Just said Wednesday that its meat had been approved for sale in the city-state as an ingredient in chicken nuggets. The news marks a “breakthrough for the global food industry”, said the company, as firms increasingly try to find less environmentally harmful ways of producing meat.
“I’m sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just… The company conducted more than 20 production runs in 1,200-litre bioreactors to make the chicken alternative, and checks on safety and quality showed that its “cultured” product — the term for meat grown in labs from animal cells — met food standards…
“Working in partnership with the broader agriculture sector and forward-thinking policymakers, companies like ours can help meet the increased demand for animal protein as our population climbs to 9.7 billion by 2050,” said company CEO Tetrick… Demand for sustainable meat alternatives is rising due to growing pressure from consumers about the environment and animal welfare, but other products in the market are plant-based.
There were concerns that lab-grown varieties would be too expensive, but a spokesman for Eat Just said the company had made “considerable progress” in lowering the cost… “Right from the start, we will be at price parity for premium chicken at a high-end restaurant,” he told AFP… Eat Just hopes to bring down the cost to below that of conventional chicken in the coming years, the spokesman added… Meat consumption is projected to increase more than 70 percent by 2050, and lab-grown alternatives have a role to play in ensuring a secure food supply, Eat Just said. SOURCE…
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