Lab-grown meat to be on eatery menus for the first time

Looking good: A photo showing a dish made with lab-grown cultured chicken developed by Eat Just. (Inset) Tetrick, the co-founder and CEO of Eat Just. — Reuters

Lab-grown chicken will soon be available in restaurants for the first time after winning the green light from Singapore regulators.

US start-up Eat Just said yesterday that its meat, created from animal cells and produced in bioreactors, had been approved for sale in the city-state as an ingredient in chicken bites.

It said in a statement that the news marked a “breakthrough for the global food industry”, as it seeks to find less environmentally harmful ways of producing meat.

Meat consumption is projected to increase by over 70% by 2050, according to Eat Just, and experts have frequently warned that it is a key driver of climate change.

“I’m sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and other countries around the globe, ” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.

“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.”

The company said it had conducted over 20 production runs in 1,200 litre bioreactors, and checks on safety and quality showed its “cultured” product – the term for meat grown in labs from animal cells – met food standards.

The meat was approved by the Singapore Food Agency, the city-state’s regulator, after an extensive safety review, Eat Just said. — AFP