Last month, the sale of cultured meat has been approved for the first time in the world. Cultured meat is meat artificially produced by tissue culture of cells and can therefore reduce the environmental load as compared to livestock. In addition, it can be produced under strict hygienic management and does not require the slaughter of animals. The approval by the Singapore Food Agency on the sale of chicken cultivated in a bioreactor by a US company Eat Just is a milestone for the food industry.

In the future, products using this cultured meat will be sold as chicken nuggets at restaurants in Singapore. Initial inventory is limited and the price is considerably higher than traditional chicken, but it is expected to eventually become cheaper as production expands in the future. In addition, although carbon emissions are relatively high in small-scale production, once production is expanded, the environmental burden will be much less than that of conventional meat.

The JIRCAS research program on information analysis provides information on the latest trends in the global food system.

References

The Guardian. No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-m…;

MIT Technology Review. Cultured meat has been approved for consumers for the first time. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/01/1012789/cultured-cultivated…;

Contributor: SHIRATORI Sakiko (Research Straegy Office)