World’s first lab-grown meat factory opens in Israel

A revolutionary “lab grown” meat factory has opened in Israel, and will use animal cells to produce chicken, beef, lamb and pork products.

The world’s first “slaughter-free” meat factory has opened in Israel as part of a food revolution aimed at finding more environmentally friendly ways of feeding the global population.

The revolutionary factory has commenced commercial production of cultured meat in the Israeli city of Rehovot, Future Meat Technologies announced this week.

The facility can produce up to 500kg of cultured meat products a day, which is equivalent to 5000 hamburger patties, making commercial cell-based meat production a reality.

The factory can produce cultured chicken, lamb and pork without the need for slaughter or genetic modification, with beef expected to be added to the production line in the near future.

The meat is produced using animal cells that are grown without genetic modifications, thereby removing the need to raise and slaughter chickens, cows, lambs or pigs.

“This facility opening marks a huge step in Future Meat Technologies’ path to market, serving as a critical enabler to bring our products to shelves by 2022,” chief executive Rom Kshuk said.

“Having a running industrial line accelerates key processes such as regulation and product development.”

The company states it is able to produce meat up to 20 times faster than traditional animal agriculture.

The new facility has been labelled a “game-changer” in lowering the cost of lab-grown meat, which has been significantly more expensive than farmed meat.

“After demonstrating that cultured meat can reach cost parity faster than the market anticipated, this production facility is the real game-changer,” founder and chief scientist professor Yaakov Nahmias said.

“Our goal is to make cultured meat affordable for everyone, while ensuring we produce delicious food that is both healthy and sustainable, helping to secure the future of coming generations.”

The company’s production process is expected to generate 80 per cent less greenhouse emissions and use 99 per cent less land and 96 per cent less freshwater than traditional meat production.

The products are anticipated to reach shelves in the US by 2022.

Scientists say lab-grown meat will have the same taste, feel and look as meat sourced directly from an animal, however, Aussie consumers remain uncertain.

Research has revealed consumers need convincing before embracing the new technology.

“Be it in the livestock sector or broader agricultural produce, there is awareness and pride about our food here in Australia so [cultivated meat] will need to live up to these standards,” University of New South Wales food and health professor Johannes le Coutre told the ABC.

“Consumers need to be convinced, even if you pass all of the legal hurdles consumers need to see the benefit.

“But at the same time more than 10 per cent of Australians are vegans or vegetarians and that’s about to grow.”

World’s first lab-grown meat factory opens in Israel (news.com.au)