Singapore has given Eat Just Inc. based in San Francisco a regulatory approval for its laboratory-grown chicken meat to be sold in the country, making it the first country to allow the use of cultured meat.
The product is made from cultured chicken cells that have been made official as an ingredient for chicken bites that has received Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) approval, Eat Just said on Tuesday.
The chicken bites will debut in a Singaporean restaurant, with other plans for it to be used in a wider range, where they would be served into all dining and retail establishments all around the country, told Josh Tetrick, the co-founder, and CEO of Eat Just Inc.
In terms of pricing, it will be on par with premium chicken.
The process of making the cultured meat is made in a bioreactor, an apparatus that gives a biological reaction takes place – a device for growing organisms (yeast, bacteria, or animal cells) under controlled conditions, typically used in industrial processes to produce pharmaceuticals, vaccines, or antibodies.
The cultured meat is rich in protein and minerals, where the company is planning to sell it under the GOOD meat brand.
As of now, having manufacturing labs that reside in Singapore and Northern California, Eat Just only has the approval to sell the product in Singapore but hopes they would get to expand the sales of the “meat” to other parts like the U.S. and Western Europe.
The trend first started growing in the United States, where people are substituting animals for something plant-based. Aside from going vegan, the people have created alternatives for people who love meat but still look for change, like the Impossible Burger that once went viral a while back.
Just like Impossible Foods, Eat Just is already producing a range of products that don’t require killing the animals, like the Just Egg that’s made with mung beans and vegan mayonnaise.
Despite this year taking a toll on the global economy, Impossible Foods secure about half a billion dollars from funding and heavyweight investors mostly in Asia.
Source: CNN Business