In what was considered a worldwide novelty, consumers in the UK can now buy a Pets Food made with laboratory -grown meat .
Gulosima contains vegetable ingredients and 4% chicken meat cultivated in Meatly, a London -based startup that last year became the first company in the world to get regulatory approval for this type of meat for use in animal feed of pets.
THE laboratory -cultivated meat is produced from the harvest of a small sample of animal cells – In this case, a chicken egg – and then grown in a steel tank called Bioreactor, along with water and nutrients. In a few weeks, a protein mass is produced with a much smaller environmental impact than the cultivation of a living animal, in terms of land and water use, as well as carbon emissions – and without killing a chicken.
“This is the first time a consumer can buy a product made of meat cultivated for his pet, and it is the first time in Europe that a consumer can buy cultivated and end meat, whether for humans or animals,” says Owen Teach, who founded Meatly in 2022.
“Our intention has always been to do meat grown for animal feed. We recognized that there was a huge need in the world of pets, with 20% of world meat being consumed by our pets. The average labrador eats more meat than its owner, ”he added.
For now, Snack – called “Chick Bites” and produced in collaboration with the food brandS for pets The Pack – has limited release and is only available in a London store from Pets at Home, a chain that operates 457 stores in the UK and was one of the first investors in Meatly. It costs £ 3.49 (about $ 20) for 50 grams.
A rare food
In recent years, the popularity of alternatives to meat has grown in popularity, but unlike plant -based products, which use proteins such as soy or peas to imitate real meat, and products that use microbes fermentation Like fungi or yeast to produce protein, cultivated meat is not yet widely available.
Only a few countries approved the sale of laboratory -cultivated meat, including Singapore in 2020, the United States in 2023 and Israel in 2024. However, two US states – Florida and Alabama – have since prohibited cultivated meat, And none is currently available for sale in the country.
In 2023, Italy became the first country to ban the sale of laboratory-cultivated meat, although the measure has been contested since then by the European Union. Apart from the issues of regulatory approval and consumer acceptance, the production of cultivated meat is still very expensive.
“We currently cost about £ 30 (about $ 210) per kilo of chicken we produce and would like to be between £ 5 and £ 10 (between $ 35 and $ 70),” says Ensor.
“Our process is still quite expensive, but we have made incredible progress in reducing costs, especially the nutrients with which we feed the chickens cells. These are usually the most expensive components, and we reduce them from £ 700 (about $ 5,000) per liter to what is currently 26 cents per liter (about $ 1.80). We have become more economical in thousands of requests in the last two years and continue on this journey. ”
Meatly’s process involves gathering “a single cell sample of a chicken egg once,” explains Ensor, which is enough to create “an infinite amount of meat forever.”
The cells are fed with a mixture of amino acids, vitamins and minerals for about a week, after which the meat is ready and has the consistency of “chicken pate”. The meat made this way is nutritionally equivalent to real meat, it adds, but free of steroids, hormones or antibiotics .
Depending on the methods used in traditional livestock, the teach says it uses 50 to 60% less land, 30 to 40% less water and creates about 40% less CO2 emissions. However, one of the biggest challenges for cultivated meat companies is to expand to be able to produce enough products for a widespread commercial launch.
Teach says Meatly currently uses 50 liter biorectors to cultivate its cells, but in order to increase production, it is planning to change to a new installation that will employ 20,000 liters biorectors.
In product tests with dogs, he states that the treat was enthusiastically received: “Many of them preferred this to the basic diet,” he says.
Pets owners – which are technically prohibited from trying the product even if they wanted to, because it is not approved for human consumption – they also responded positively, adds a teaching.
“When you begin to explain that the process is very similar to that of making beer and that it is dramatically sustainable [do que a produção convencional de carne]which we have done a lot of security tests and have regular appointments to regulators to ensure that our process meets all the necessary rules, people are enthusiastic about it. Many people who have pets are animal lovers and want to find a more sustainable and kind way to feed their pets. ”
Humans next?
According to Tuck Seng Wong, professor of biofabrication at Sheffield University in the United Kingdom, and deputy director of the National Center for Alternative Protein Innovation, which is not involved with Meatly, the cultivated meat technology has advanced significantly and is now now Comparable in maturity to other alternative protein technologies, such as fermentation and insect cultivation.
“Pets feed represents up to a quarter of total meat consumption,” he says. “Therefore, the development of an alternative method for the production of pet foods that ensures food safety and at the same time preserves the essential nutrients that pets need is a significant milestone.”
As technology continues to advance, he adds, the culture means used to cultivate animal cells will become increasingly profitable and environmentally sustainable.
“Using meat cultivated in the feeding of pets is a logical choice, as long as it meets an acceptable price for consumers, while guaranteeing high food safety standards and maintains, or even increases the essential nutritional value for animals estimation. ”
Christopher Bryant, Bath University Psychologist and Honorary Researcher, who studies the acceptance of alternative meat by consumers, and is not involved with Meatly, says that the laboratory -cultivated meat still needs to conquer consumers.
“There is a lot of evidence that consumer -cultivated meat acceptance is strongly associated with familiarity,” he adds. “When a product becomes more familiar in any form, it will tend to be seen as more normal and therefore will tend to be more accepted.”
After manufacturing pet feed, which hopes to help consumers familiarize themselves with the laboratory -grown meat, Meatly intends to produce proteins grown as well as people. “The UK eating standard agency is currently conducting a two -year project to define the process of approval for cultivated meat,” says Ensor.
“We hope to be part of this process, and everything in our production is safe for humans, but we don’t have the regulatory path yet. But once this was established, we would love to bring sustainable, healthy and kind meat to people. ”
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This content was originally published in the world’s first pet laboratory meat is released in the United Kingdom on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
