Lab-grown meat can be kosher and halal, experts say By Reuters

By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) – Lab-grown meat may be labeled kosher and halal so long as its cells are derived in strategies compliant with spiritual requirements, in line with two panels of specialists commissioned by the nascent trade.

The opinions are a win for cell-cultivated meat firms, executives mentioned, as a result of it means observant followers of Judaism and Islam might in the future devour their merchandise.

“It’s one other marker round making cultivated meat an actual answer,” mentioned Josh Tetrick, CEO of GOOD Meat.

Cultivated meat is at present solely offered in tiny portions in the US and Singapore, however firms hope personal and public buyers will infuse the sector with sufficient money to scale manufacturing and alter diets around the globe.

Cultivated meat is derived from a pattern of animal cells which are fed a nutrient combine and grown in metal vats, avoiding the necessity for land-intensive industrial farming operations and slaughterhouses.

Firms within the fledgling trade hope their product will enchantment to vegans and vegetarians in addition to local weather aware meat eaters.

GOOD convened a panel of three sharia specialists who reviewed the corporate’s manufacturing and on Sunday mentioned cultivated meat may be halal if, amongst different components, the cells from which the meat is made come from an animal slaughtered in line with Islamic regulation.

Although GOOD’s rooster doesn’t at present meet that commonplace, the opinion offers a roadmap for the trade to make halal merchandise, Tetrick mentioned in an interview.

The Orthodox Union (OU), the most important kosher certification company, on Sept. 6 mentioned cultivated rooster produced by Israeli firm SuperMeat met its requirements as a result of the rooster cells weren’t fed any animal substances and have been extracted from a fertilized egg earlier than any blood spots appeared.

SuperMeat and the OU are engaged on broader tips for the trade, firm CEO Ido Savir mentioned.

Greater than 12 million folks in the US eat kosher merchandise and eight million eat halal merchandise, in line with the OU and Islamic Companies of America, a halal certification company.

Regulators cleared cultivated rooster for U.S. consumption earlier this yr and it has since been served at some high-end eating places.