Why lab-grown meat may never be on the menu

Laboratory-grown meat has come a long way since 2013, when Google co-founder Sergey Brin bankrolled the first burger made from meat cells grown outside an animal. The patty, which cost about US$330,000 (S$448,360) to make, stoked an investor appetite for cultured meat and highlighted the technology’s perceived potential as a kinder, more climate-friendly way of feeding the world.

Seven years later,

Singapore became the first country to sell lab-grown meat

– nuggets formed from a hybrid of chicken and plant proteins – to diners and shoppers. The year after, the sector attracted US$1.9 billion of venture capital. Now another hurdle has been cleared, this time in the United States: The Food and Drug Administration announced in November it had completed a “pre-market consultation” on lab-grown chicken, and raised no safety concerns with its maker, Upside Foods. The US Department of Agriculture still needs to carry out inspections before approval is granted, but the path to commercialisation looks clearer.