We've seen the growth of lab-grown meat across consumer brands for human consumption in certain countries around the world, but now lab-grown is being made available to our pets, too, with the UK being the first country in Europe to approve putting the artificial meat in pet food following regulatory approval this month.
While Singapore and the US approved the sale of lab-grown meat for human consumption was already approved in Singapore and the US in 2020 and 2023, respectively. But the approval process has taken much longer in the EU to date. The main cause for delay has been the push back from several countries and bodies due to the perceived threat to current food production methods and farming, alongside scepticism about cell-based products.
Leading the charge with this development is Meatly, the British biotech company which received approval to sell lab-grown chicken cell meat for pets. The approval for a British firm has been made possible following Brexit and the resulting added flexibility around legislation in this area.
It's expected that there will be a warm reception by animal lovers who are often presented with a dilemma when feeding their own pets farmed meat.
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