Image: GOOD Meat.
Singapore has become the first country in the world to approve the sale of meat grown from animal cells, after its food regulator cleared US company Eat Just to sell cultured chicken.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) gave its approval today (Wednesday, December 2) for Eat Just's cultured chicken to be used as an ingredient in chicken bites, the first product under the company's new GOOD Meat brand. The approval followed an extensive safety review by the SFA, and the chicken will be sold first in restaurants before moving into shops.
The chicken is grown from cells in bioreactors rather than taken from a bird raised and slaughtered on a farm. Eat Just, the San Francisco company best known for its plant-based JUST Egg, says it ran over 20 production runs in 1,200-liter bioreactors to show its process was consistent, and no antibiotics are used.
Co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick said in a statement, reported by AgFunderNews:
"Singapore has long been a leader in innovation of all kinds, from information technology to biologics to now leading the world in building a healthier, safer food system."
"I'm sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe."
Why does it matter? The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that livestock are responsible for 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. If meat can be made without raising and slaughtering animals, that number can start to fall, and billions of animals never have to be born into factory farms.
Of course the simplest option remains on the shelf already: beans, lentils, tofu and the plant-based meats that have had such a huge year. But for the people who won't give up chicken, a world where it comes without the chicken is a very good thing. (We never thought we'd write that sentence.)
This is another milestone in the plant-based revolution Google predicted. Back in 2017 even the CEO of Tyson Foods saw the need to move beyond meat. Last month McDonald's announced the McPlant, Tesco pledged to grow plant-based meat sales 300% in September, and in July Oprah and Jay-Z invested in Oatly.
This is just the beginning.