Ah, October! The month of cozy sweaters, crunchy leaves, and… elections igniting debates about animal welfare. Coincidentally or not, the cultivated meat sector finds itself spotlighted this month, drawing attention as one answer to both food sustainability and ethical concerns. From flavorful discoveries to fresh funding rounds, the world of lab-grown meat continues to cook up exciting developments. Here’s the lowdown.

In recent research, Tufts University’s David Kaplan put flavor at the forefront of lab-grown meat, declaring fat cells—or “adipocytes”—as the “holy grail” for achieving that authentic taste. Apparently, these fat cells bring much of the flavor that we crave in traditional meats, an insight that researchers hope will lead to more palatable cultivated meat products. Meanwhile, a serum-free culture medium system combining growth factor-secreting cells and lactate-assimilating cyanobacteria shows potential for boosting meat cell growth more sustainably. Researchers at the National University of Singapore, on the other hand, have made strides with pork fat tissue cultured on rye protein scaffolds, a novel approach that combines simplicity with scalability.

Key players in the field are moving swiftly. JBS’s BioTech Foods opened a large facility in Spain, capable of producing 1,000 metric tons of cultivated meat annually, with the potential to quadruple output in time. UK-based MicroLub also closed a £3.5 million investment round to commercialize fat-replacement tech, a solution that could improve the texture and nutritional profile of cultivated meat products. Adding to the excitement, Vital Meat held a tasting event in Singapore, showcasing its cultivated chicken, dubbed “Vital Chicken”. This gathering provided a sneak peek into what the public can expect from lab-grown options hitting plates worldwide. Furthermore, Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic launched its first student society dedicated to cultivated meat, signaling a generational shift toward mainstream acceptance and engagement with lab-grown alternatives.

In the market sphere, European organizations, supported by the Good Food Institute, mapped out ambitious scenarios for the future of cultivated meat in the EU. They projected that with favorable regulations, funding, and technological advancements, the sector could significantly contribute to Europe’s food sustainability goals. Still, some voices express caution: Robert Jones of Mosa Meat stressed the need for public investment to help the industry overcome the notorious “valley of death” in innovation, where many promising technologies falter without financial backing. Though cultivated meat promises environmental and ethical benefits, it remains financially challenging, requiring additional support to bridge this gap.

Legal landscapes are also evolving. In the UK, a new regulatory sandbox was launched to fast-track cultivated meat approvals, marking a major step toward widespread availability. This €1.6 million initiative aims to streamline the review process and ensure that cultivated meat products meet rigorous safety standards before entering the market. Across the Atlantic, the USDA updated inspection protocols for cultivated meats, refining the process to assess safety across different production methods. These regulatory strides highlight the growing need for frameworks that can keep pace with industry innovation, providing consumers with safe, reliable alternatives to traditionally sourced meats.

See you next month!

News

Selective Outrage About Animals Is Having a Political Moment October 27, 2024
The fact that this election cycle has featured so much animal news is largely just a coincidence. But it’s not entirely coincidental.Plant-based meat, cultivated meat and other alternative proteins have grown in prominence and visibility over the last several years. While this is a very promising trend from an environmental… Read more: Selective Outrage About Animals Is Having a Political Moment

FoodTech in France 2024 – DigitalFoodLab October 26, 2024
French FoodTech startups raised €260M in 2024 (up to Q3) and we project they will raise about €350M by the end of the year. That would be 51% less than in 2023 and 68% less than in 2022 when the ecosystem reached its peak. The French FoodTech ecosystem seems to… Read more: FoodTech in France 2024 – DigitalFoodLab

Fat cells bring the flavor to lab-grown meat October 17, 2024
David Kaplan, director of the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture, says that “adipocytes are the holy grail, as most people would put it, for taste.” Although protein-packed muscle cells contribute texture and nutrients to meat, many signature flavor compounds come from oxidation of lipids during cooking. Source: Fat cells… Read more: Fat cells bring the flavor to lab-grown meat

Lab-grown meat is far from perfect, but it could change the world October 9, 2024
That’s right, readers; I ate lab-grown meat. And to answer your inevitable follow-up: Yes, it tasted like chicken. It tasted like chicken because, well, it was chicken. Lab-grown meat is not a meat substitute created entirely from soy or other vegetarian ingredients. Rather, it’s actual animal flesh, typically made from… Read more: Lab-grown meat is far from perfect, but it could change the world

Companies and key players

JBS’s BioTech Foods opens new US$36.1M cultivated meat facility in Spain October 30, 2024
This is part of the company’s plan to increase its presence in the alternative protein sector.The facility, backed by an investment of approximately R$ 200 million (US$36.1 million), is designed to produce over 1,000 metric tons of cultivated meat annually, with the potential to scale up to 4,000 metric tons… Read more: JBS’s BioTech Foods opens new US$36.1M cultivated meat facility in Spain

MicroLub closes £3.5m investment round to commercialise fat-replacement tech October 29, 2024
Deep-tech spin out company from the UK’s University of Leeds, MicroLub, has closed a £3.5 million seed investment round. The funding will enable the company to commercialise its patented technologies for fat-replacement, texture-enhancement and nutrient-delivery. The start-up says it will use the funds to advance product development with collaboration partners,… Read more: MicroLub closes £3.5m investment round to commercialise fat-replacement tech

Temasek Polytechnic students get involved in food of the future – cultivated meat October 28, 2024
Launched on Oct 14, the society is Singapore’s first student society whose members endeavour to raise awareness about cultivated meat among younger generations.It was founded by the APAC-SCA, a collective working to advance the production of animal-based products from cell cultures, and Temasek Polytechnic. Source: Temasek Polytechnic students get involved… Read more: Temasek Polytechnic students get involved in food of the future – cultivated meat

Vital Meat hosts tasting October 21, 2024
Nantes, France-based cultivated chicken firm Vital Meat last week hosted a tasting event at Hue Restaurant in Singapore, featuring three dishes made with cultivated chicken, Vital Chicken. Source: Vital Meat hosts tasting | Alt Meat Photo @ Vital Meat on Linkedin

Newcastle biotech business CellRev seals £1.4m investment to ramp up work October 19, 2024
Newcastle University spin-out CellRev has secured £1.4m in investment funds to scale up its work. The startup has raised £1.05m in an investment round led by the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, alongside global investor Happiness Capital and CPT… Read more: Newcastle biotech business CellRev seals £1.4m investment to ramp up work

Harvested not slaughtered – cultivated beef burger from Bene Meat Technologies October 18, 2024
Bene Meat Technologies has successfully produced its first cultivated beef burger, which offers an appearance, aroma, and texture nearly identical to conventional ground beef. This is real beef, produced under strict ethical and sustainable conditions. The product also meets the highest standards of safe, responsible, and sustainable nutrition. Furthermore, it… Read more: Harvested not slaughtered – cultivated beef burger from Bene Meat Technologies

BioMush unleashes food tech innovation at London’s Future Food-Tech – “Ready for Industrial Scale Deployment” October 12, 2024
BioMush, a Finnish FoodTech innovator, is set to revolutionize the food industry side stream usage with its latest advancement unveiled at the Future Food-Tech in London: the first demo-size bioreactor powered by cutting-edge solid-state fermentation technology. This breakthrough offers food manufacturers a sustainable solution for transforming edible side streams into… Read more: BioMush unleashes food tech innovation at London’s Future Food-Tech – “Ready for Industrial Scale Deployment”

Meatable Receives €7.6M RVO Innovation Credit to Deliver Cultivated Meat at Scale October 10, 2024
Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable has been awarded €7.6 million as part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) Innovation Credit program.RVO’s Innovation Credits are designed to support “innovative development projects with considerable technological risks and excellent market prospects”. Meatable intends to use the funding to improve productivity and reduce costs… Read more: Meatable Receives €7.6M RVO Innovation Credit to Deliver Cultivated Meat at Scale

GEA and Believer Meats join forces to scale up cultivated meat production October 8, 2024
Believer Meats, a pioneer in the cultivated meat industry, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with GEA, one of the world’s largest suppliers of production scale equipment and systems to the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. The partnership focuses on co-developing technologies and processes to improve the unit economics and… Read more: GEA and Believer Meats join forces to scale up cultivated meat production

Alternative Protein Think Tank Opens Japan Office As New PM Takes Office October 5, 2024
The Good Food Institute (GFI) has opened a new office in Japan, banking on the country’s robust economy, public investment potential, and top-class research infrastructure. The alternative protein think tank’s newest office joins its affiliates in Singapore, India, Israel, Europe, Brazil, and the US. Source: Alternative Protein Think Tank Opens… Read more: Alternative Protein Think Tank Opens Japan Office As New PM Takes Office

Market, investment, prospective

The Future for Cultivated Meat in Europe October 16, 2024
To understand the potential of this new industry within the EU, Systemiq, supported by the Good Food Institute Europe, modelled a range of ambitious yet plausible scenarios where certain technical, regulatory and political milestones for cultivated meat are met. The cultivated meat industry presents a significant opportunity for the EU,… Read more: The Future for Cultivated Meat in Europe

BioFund 4 : A new €250M venture for European biotech, too early for alternative proteins October 15, 2024
Kurma Partners has launched BioFund 4, a new €250 million venture capital fund aimed at supporting innovation in the European pharmaceutical industry. This fund is designed to help early-stage biotech companies and startups that focus on developing innovative medicines and therapies. With a first round of funding already securing €140… Read more: BioFund 4 : A new €250M venture for European biotech, too early for alternative proteins

Cultivated meat won’t cross valley of death without public funds October 13, 2024
Looking ahead, “There’s a valley of death we’re not going to cross as an industry without a massive infusion of public investment,” said Robert Jones, VP global public affairs at Dutch startup Mosa Meat, during a panel session at last week’s summit. The panel did not focus on the technical… Read more: Cultivated meat won’t cross valley of death without public funds

Laws, ethics and lobbies

UK Invests £1.6 Million in Europe’s First Regulatory Sandbox to Fast-Track Cultivated Meat Approvals October 11, 2024
Claimed as Europe’s first, the sandbox aims to accelerate the authorization process for these novel proteins. Cultivated meat must undergo a comprehensive food safety assessment in alignment with the UK’s existing regulatory framework for novel foods and must be authorized by ministers before becoming publicly available. Source: UK Invests £1.6… Read more: UK Invests £1.6 Million in Europe’s First Regulatory Sandbox to Fast-Track Cultivated Meat Approvals

FSIS updates cultivated meat inspection process October 6, 2024
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Wednesday issued updated instructions on how to collect cell-cultured food products and send samples to agency labs. According to the updated policy, after the first 10 samples of a specific cell line or production method are collected, inspectors must only collect additional… Read more: FSIS updates cultivated meat inspection process

Research

A serum-free culture medium production system by co-culture combining growth factor-secreting cells and l-lactate-assimilating cyanobacteria for sustainable cultured meat production October 31, 2024
More seeded cells and longer culture periods are thought to yield higher growth factor levels, resulting in more effective muscle cell proliferation. However, RL34 cells can deplete nutrients and release harmful metabolites into the culture medium over time, potentially causing growth inhibition and apoptosis. This issue highlights the need for… Read more: A serum-free culture medium production system by co-culture combining growth factor-secreting cells and l-lactate-assimilating cyanobacteria for sustainable cultured meat production

Dynamically cultured, differentiated bovine adipose-derived stem cell spheroids as building blocks for biofabricating cultured fat October 25, 2024
In this work we show the establishment of primary bovine adipose-derived stem cell spheroids in static and dynamic suspension culture. Spheroids are successfully differentiated using a single-step protocol. Differentiated spheroids from dynamic cultures maintain stability and viability during 3D bioprinting in edible gellan gum. Also, the fatty acid composition of… Read more: Dynamically cultured, differentiated bovine adipose-derived stem cell spheroids as building blocks for biofabricating cultured fat

Cellular agriculture research manages to culture pork fat tissue on rye protein scaffolds October 7, 2024
National University of Singapore (NUS) food scientists have developed a simple and scalable method for culturing pork fat tissue using protein scaffolds made from “secalin”, a protein extracted from rye. Source: Cellular agriculture research manages to culture pork fat tissue on rye protein scaffolds