Given that our meat consumption continues to exert great pressure on the environment, the emergence of laboratory-grown alternatives is beginning to gain momentum. There are many initiatives in the world, but Singapore has been the first country in the world to authorize its global sale by the hand of chicken grown by the American food technology startup Eat Just. It will be the first country to sell the meat of the future. It already has a green light for sale in Singapore.
Without sacrificing any animals
It is undoubtedly a great advance for the food industry, a historic moment in the meat industry, as more and more companies are looking for less harmful alternatives to the environment in terms of meat production. And it is that the consumption of common meat is an environmental threat since livestock produces methane , a powerful greenhouse gas, while cutting down forests to make way for animals also destroys natural barriers against climate change.
Sustainable food
Cultured meat, produced in bioreactors without the sacrifice of an animal, as it is manufactured from animal cells, has passed a safety review by the Singapore Food Agency and the approval could open the door to a future in the that all the meat that is produced and consumed does not require any animal sacrifice.
At MUY we have talked in the past about the dozens of companies that are developing farmed chicken, beef and pork, with a view to drastically reducing the impact of industrial livestock production in climate and natural crises, as well as providing cleaner meat, chemical and cruelty free. (As an example, about 130 million chickens and 4 million pigs are slaughtered for meat each day .)
How is this laboratory chicken made?
The cells are grown in a 1,200-liter bioreactor and then combined with plant-based ingredients; in essence, with the same nutrients that living animals would receive to grow and multiply. Eventually these cells become edible portions of cultured meat. If you’re wondering, it has the same nutritional value as real chicken.
Its price?
For the moment and, until production increases , the product will be significantly more expensive than conventional chicken but, over time, it will even be cheaper than the chicken that we are used to buying in the butcher shop. And it goes without saying that it would be a more sustainable way of feeding the population, since this way of growing meat requires 99% less land and up to 96% less water.
The projection into the future is that meat consumption will increase by more than 70% by 2050, so laboratory-grown alternatives will have a crucial role to play in ensuring a safe food supply. Without going any further, a recent report from global consultancy AT Kearney predicted that most of the meat in 2040 will not come from dead animals.
Industry experts agree that other companies, including Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat, and Aleph Farms , could do well in the future as they were working on textured products like steaks and burgers and could produce significant amounts of meat. cultivated in the laboratory from the beginning.
