{"id":2400,"date":"2021-02-15T16:05:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T08:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regask.com\/?p=2400"},"modified":"2024-11-19T09:59:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T01:59:16","slug":"%e5%ae%9e%e9%aa%8c%e5%ae%a4%e5%9f%b9%e8%82%b2%e8%82%89%e7%b1%bb%e7%9a%84%e7%8e%b0%e5%ae%9e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regask.com\/zh\/lab-grown-meat-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"\u5b9e\u9a8c\u5ba4\u57f9\u80b2\u7684\u8089\uff1a\u4ece\u79d1\u5e7b\u5c0f\u8bf4\u5230\u73b0\u5b9e"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2018, Singaporean writer Vina Jie-Min Prasad was shortlisted for the prestigious Hugo Award for her sci-fi story \u201cA Series of Steaks,\u201d about a counterfeiter who specializes in 3D printing fake meat. Barely two years later, however, science fiction has become reality, with Singapore giving a lab-grown meat product<\/strong> the world\u2019s first stamp of regulatory approval.<\/p>\n

In December 2020, Singapore gave the green light to the lab-grown \u201ccultured chicken\u201d<\/strong> product produced by Eat Just, a San Francisco-based company. According to the New York Times<\/em>, a spokesperson from the Singapore Food Agency<\/strong> said that, to their knowledge, no other country had approved such a product before.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

Is lab-grown meat just a fad, or is there deeper business potential here\u2014and how will regulators around the world respond?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fake meat?<\/strong> Nothing new<\/h2>\n

\u201cFake meat\u201d is not a new idea: for thousands of years, people have turned to alternative sources of protein, like tofu, tempeh, and so on. But in recent years, the alternative protein industry has gained a new lease of life. According to UBS\u2019s research, in 2018, the market was just shy of $5 billion<\/strong>, and within the next decade, it is projected to explode to $85 billion<\/strong>.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lab-grown meat, though it sounds exotic, is a natural outgrowth of this trend. The basic idea is that, using a tissue sample from the original animal, lab researchers can simply grow a slab of muscle fibers<\/strong>, avoiding the waste and environmental harms that normally come with raising live animals such as water consumption, pollution, and so on.<\/p>\n

Cultured meat technology is still being perfected, and is likely years away from being mass-produced. According to Scientific American, a 2013 lab-grown burger patty<\/strong> cost a staggering $300,000\u2014rather higher than the price of a McDonald\u2019s value meal. The patty also didn\u2019t quite live up to the taste test: reportedly, it was too dry, because it didn\u2019t have enough fat.[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

But just seven years later, Eat Just\u2019s debut in Singapore suggests just how fast the industry is improving. It previously said that one chicken nugget would cost $50, but now claims \u201cprice parity\u201d<\/strong> with \u201cpremium chicken.\u201d[iv]<\/a> If this trend continues, before long, lab-grown meat may be seriously competitive on price with farm-grown meat.<\/p>\n

Lab-grown meat:<\/strong> the answer to global warming?<\/h2>\n

Price aside, there are good reasons to support lab-grown meat. Resource scarcity<\/strong> is one: of all the countries in the world, there is good reason why Singapore was the first to approve this product. Though the island nation currently imports around 90% of its food due to lack of land space, it has recently announced a \u201c30 by 30\u201d goal of fulfilling 30% of its agricultural needs by the year 2030. To achieve this food security goal, it will need to adopt innovative technologies, of which cultured meat is a prime example.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lab-grown meat also ameliorates longstanding ethical issues<\/strong> in the meat industry. For one, it avoids the need to rear animals for slaughter, making meat more palatable for animal lovers. In addition, lab-grown meat is also helpful in reducing our environmental impact. The meat industry is a major source of global warming<\/strong>, as cows produce lots of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Plus, antibiotic abuse<\/strong> in the industry has produced dangerous antibiotic-resistant disease strains that could cause the next pandemic.<\/p>\n

Despite these favorable conditions, lab-grown meat still faces many challenges. Price and taste are key, as mentioned, as well as the question of consumer receptiveness. To safeguard consumer trust<\/strong>, regulators will want to make sure that no harmful additives or pathogens are introduced during the process of culturing meat, and the novelty of these technical procedures means that close monitoring will be needed.<\/p>\n

There is also some debate over just how much of an environmental benefit<\/strong> lab-grown meat will really have. Some researchers have suggested that the\u00a0carbon dioxide produced by lab-grown meat\u2019s manufacturing process could outweigh the reduction of methane from cattle farms and contribute more to global warming in the long run.[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n

Cultured meat<\/strong> and food safety regulations<\/h2>\n

Due to their novelty as food products, companies interested in launching lab-grown meat products will need the approval of regulators before placing them on the market. To protect consumer health, regulations in many jurisdictions contain provisions for the safety assessment of novel foods. Whether lab-grown meat can be named \u201cmeat\u201d is uncertain, as the definition of \u201cmeat\u201d may vary from one country to another. In the interests of ensuring that consumers are properly informed, regulators will likely enforce specific labeling requirements about the characteristics and properties of cultured \u201cmeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, companies themselves have been divided in how to market their product: is it \u201canimal protein\u201d<\/strong> or \u201cartificial meat\u201d<\/strong>?[vii]<\/a> To help answer such questions, five US-based companies have come together<\/a> to form a new body, the Alliance for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation). Among other goals, AMPS Innovation aims to develop common labeling guidelines for cultured meat, working closely with government organizations to do so. The group is resistant to slapping an \u201cimitation\u201d label on cultured meat, a suggestion called for by the bipartisan Enzi-Tester bill in the U.S. Congress, proposed in late 2019.[viii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is a quick snapshot of some of the regulatory frameworks around the world on cultured meat:<\/p>\n