World first: Eat Just gets regulatory approval for cell-based chicken ingredient in Singapore
The first-in-the-world regulatory allowance of real meat created directly from animal cells for human consumption paves the way for a forthcoming small-scale commercial launch in Singapore of Eat Just’s new GOOD Meat brand, details for which will be disclosed at a later date.
Eat Just says this breakthrough builds on Singapore’s reputation as a world leader in business, technology and culinary innovation and underscores the country’s dedication to enterprising solutions that advance environmental stewardship.
It added that its team of scientists, product developers and regulatory experts have prepared extensive documentation on the characterization of its cultured chicken and the process to produce it.
The company included details on the purity, identity and stability of chicken cells during the manufacturing process, as well as a detailed description of the manufacturing process which demonstrated that harvested cultured chicken met quality controls and a rigorous food safety monitoring system.
Eat Just has demonstrated a consistent manufacturing process of their cultured chicken by running over 20 production runs in 1,200-liter bioreactors, it says. No antibiotics are used in this proprietary process.
Standards
Safety and quality validations demonstrated that harvested cultured chicken met the standards of poultry meat, with extremely low and significantly cleaner microbiological content than conventional chicken.
The analysis also demonstrated that cultured chicken contains a high protein content, diversified amino acid composition, high relative content in healthy monounsaturated fats and is a rich source of minerals.
The regulatory approval involved an extensive safety review by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).
Eat Just complied with SFA’s food safety requirements for the assessment of novel foods. In addition, Eat Just’s cultured chicken was confirmed to be safe and nutritious for human consumption by a distinguished outside panel of international scientific authorities in Singapore and the United States, with expertise in medicine, toxicology, allergenicity, cell biology and food safety.
The firm has also formed strategic partnerships with well-established local manufacturers in Singapore to produce cultured chicken cells and formulate the finished product ahead of its historic sale to a restaurant and, ultimately, initial availability to consumers.
“Singapore has long been a leader in innovation of all kinds, from information technology to biologics to now leading the world in building a healthier, safer food system. I’m sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe.
“Working in partnership with the broader agriculture sector and forward-thinking policymakers, companies like ours can help meet the increased demand for animal protein as our population climbs to 9.7 billion by 2050,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
Today’s announcement is Eat Just’s second in Singapore this year. In October, the company announced a partnership with a consortium led by Proterra Investment Partners Asia Pte. Ltdan investment management firm focused on the food and agribusiness sectors, to build and operate a plant protein production facility in Singapore to meet demand for Eat Just’s popular plant-based JUST Egg products across Asia.
Josh Tetrick featured in our recent Growth Asia interactive broadcast series. Find out more here.
