American startup Eat Just is the first company to win government approval—in this case, the Singaporean government—to sell lab-grown meat. Eat Just describes the product as “real, high-quality meat created directly from animal cells for safe human consumption.” After reviewing the company’s safety assessment, Singapore’s Food Agency approved this “cultured chicken” for sale as an ingredient for chicken nuggets.
CEO Josh Tetrick calls this a historic moment in the food industry as this is “the world’s first regulatory approval for a cultivated meat product.” He reveals that a Singaporean restaurant would begin selling the product and will start taking reservations soon. The company, which previously said that each nugget would cost $50 to make, said it was looking forward to gaining approval in the United States and Europe.
The meat business has long faced criticism from both animal rights and environment activists. Aside from the argument that eating meat is inhumane, its impact on the environment has invited more scrutiny over the years. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock accounts for around 14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions each year. This is roughly equivalent to the emissions from all cars, trucks, airplanes and ships combined.
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