Today's consumer is becoming more aware, and environmental, health, and animal welfare concerns are increasing the demand for alternative protein products to "normal" meat.
There are more and more plant-based "meat" options on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus, yet a consumer product, grown from animal muscle cells is something until recently only tested in the laboratory and not accessible to the ordinary consumer.
However, Singapore, through its national food agency, by considering the positive safety test results of Eat Just's cultured chicken meat product, has opened doors to a previously unregulated and inaccessible market.
The food agency in Singapore has permitted the production of cultured chicken meat, to be sold as an ingredient in the nuggets product of Eat Just, a company based in San Francisco. And today it is possible to consume this type of product in this Asian location.
The agency has established a regulatory framework for "novel foods" to ensure that cultured meat and other alternative protein products meet safety standards before being sold in Singapore. Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Eat Just revealed in a statement, that he is certain that his company's regulatory approval for cultured meat, will be the first of many in Singapore, as well as in countries around the world. He also mentioned that no antibiotics were used in the process, and the cultured chicken had a lower microbiological burden than conventional chicken.
"The world's first regulatory permission for high-quality real meat grown directly from animal cells for safe human consumption paves the way for an upcoming small-scale commercial launch in Singapore," said Eat Just.
Although the regulatory process is long and slow, this opens the door for Europe to have access to this type of product soon, since there are many start-ups in Europe also dedicated to the manufacture of this new type of food, such as Ivyfarm Technologies and Mosa Meat.