Good Meat, the cultivated meat division of food tech company Eat Just, Inc, has recently gained the world’s first regulatory approval for use of serum-free media by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), accelerating scalability while reducing the cost of cultivated meat production.
Cellular agriculture technology traditionally uses Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) in bioreactors as an effective growth medium to cultivate animal cells into the muscle, fat, and connective tissues that form meat. However, FBS serum bears a number of disadvantages including inconsistent quality, ethical concerns, and cost. Up to 95% of the cost of cultivated meat production can be attributed to the cost of growth media for cells. Removing serum as the media or growth trigger for the cell-based meat process is seen as a major factor in driving down costs and expanding commercialisation of cultivated meats.
With the latest regulatory approval, Good Meat is able to bring the industry closer to price parity with real meat. It is also expected to pave the way for the production of larger quantities of chicken made from laboratory-grown cells.
Eat Just is also constructing a Singapore-based facility with the ability to produce tens of thousands of pounds of cultivated meat using what it claimed to be the world’s single largest bioreactor in the cultivated meat industry. The plant, is slated to start operation in late 2023 and will run the company’s serum-free formulation process.
Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder and CEO of Eat Just said, “Not too long ago, observers thought removing serum was a major limiting step to scaling cultivated-meat. I could not be prouder of our team for doing just that and receiving approval to commercialise it this week. It’s yet another step forward for our company, the cultivated-meat industry and the health of our planet.”
Singapore is the first country in the world to approve the production and sale of cultivated meat products to consumers. In November 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time raised no objections to a cell-based meat product being made available for human consumption. Although this does not signify official approval, Eat Just can however launch its cell-based meat products once it has been inspected by USDA.
In a separate development, Huber’s Butchery, one of Singapore’s premier suppliers of high-quality meat products, will also become the first butchery in the world to sell and serve cultivated meat.
The partnership with GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of food technology company Eat Just, Inc., allows Huber’s to add a new, locally produced cultivated chicken offering to its display case and bistro menu. It will be served weekly starting January for in-restaurant dining by reservation, while stocks last.
Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder and CEO of Eat Just said, “Offering this new approach to making meat at a butchery is another historic moment in the long road to making our food system more delicious and sustainable. I’m very proud to partner with the Huber’s team to give people a whole new way to experience our cultivated chicken in the new year.”
Huber’s Butchery Managing Director Ryan Huber said, “When we founded our butcher shop, we made it our mission to provide top quality and exceptional tasting meat products with the highest food safety standards at an affordable price. Partnering with GOOD Meat is in keeping with that vision and the realities of our ever-changing food system.
