Singapore becomes 1st country to approve sale of lab-grown meat

Singapore has become the first country to allow the commercial sale of lab-grown meat as the country approved US startup Eat Just's clean chicken meat to be sold as nuggets. Clean meat or cultured meat is produced in bioreactors from animal muscle cells without any slaughter. Eat Just said they will go for a small-scale commercial launch in Singapore.

Demand for alternatives to regular meat is surging due to consumer concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment. Plant-based meat options, popularised by Beyond Meat Inc and Impossible Foods, increasingly feature on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.

But so-called clean or cultured meat, which is grown from animal muscle cells in a lab, is still at a nascent stage given high production costs.