TheMeatCulture

Josh Tetrick has explained to the public the science behind his cultured meat product many times. And each time, he does it carefully and patiently. After all, it is not every day that people encounter lab-minted chicken parts, let alone taste one. But GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken is finally here, at least on the menu of some restaurants.

“GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken is the first-ever cultured meat product approved to be sold for human consumption,” Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just, begins. “Unlike plant-based meats currently on the market, cultured meat is made from animal cells, the same input and essential composition of conventional meat.”

The term ‘cultured’ highlights the main difference relative to conventional meat, Tetrick emphasizes. “Instead of farming and slaughtering animals to generate meat, cultured meat involves the cultivation of cells under a suitable solution of nutrients and a bioreactor that provides the right physiological and environmental conditions for the cells to thrive.”

This cell culture occurs in a very similar process to brewing beer, yeast grown for bread-making, rennet used to make cheese and other foods made by large-scale culture processes, he mentions some examples. The main difference is that the cells used for the culture process are “eukaryotic animal cells” and those constitute the core of the final product.

“We begin by sourcing a small amount of animal cells from highquality poultry or livestock. We then feed those cells nutrients, including amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, fatsandvitamins–thesametypes of nutrients that animals need to grow and multiply. These nutrients grow the cells into meat. The entire process takes place in a safe and controlled environment, much like a beer brewery.”

Instead of growing the entire animal, Eat Just grows only what is typically consumed–theedibleportion.By doing so, they use fewer resources to grow theme at, and they can be more efficient, completing growth in weeks rather than months or years. The harvested product can then be used in multiple final formats, “from less structured crispy chicken bites, savory ch orizo and sausages, to more textured products such as grilled chicken breasts”. The technology behind the product also allows the composition of the meat, as well as its nutritional value (leaner, fattier, etc.), to be customized.

The production of GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken is done under food Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), following a rigorous food safety program, shares Tetrick. “We follow a defined food safety plan that assures our food products are free of pathogens and foreign particles. We also maintain a cold chain that is controlled and monitored by us and our partners, to assure the product’s safety.”

The cultured chicken is manufactured under controlled conditions which are assured by working with organizations such as the (FIRC) in Singapore, that has years of experience in food manufacturing. It has also under gone an extensive and thorough evaluation process by the regulatory authorities in Singapore, Tetrick claims, which included evaluation of a safety package by a panel of scientific experts. “Our cultured chicken product and manufacturing processes were found to meet these safety requirements. When compared to conventional chicken, cultured chicken has much lower microbiological content because the chicken cells are grown in a safe, sterile and controlled environment.”

Cultured meat appears to be a viable way to delivering nutrition to more consumers. It can potentially level the field for more people in need of sustenance with its highly efficient manufacturing process that takes

just a few weeks. Production with multiple bioreactors can occur con currently and the process can be operated so there are multiple harvests during the same week .“As we scale up our production and lower costs, we hope to build a better, brighter, and more just food system for all,” Tetrick declares.

Not surprisingly, the company derived its name and was founded on the principle of establishing “a just food system for all” – a dream that Tetrick believes can be achieved by harnessing technology and science to create products that are healthy, more sustainable, and within reach for every person on the planet.

For now, Eat Just is focused on scaling GOOD Meat in Singapore, which includes moving forward with manufacturing facilities and expanding the number of restaurants serving cultured chicken. They are also working on other cultured meat products, including beef.

“We focus on developing and scaling technologies that can make eggs and meat that don’t require slaughtering an animal or tea ring down a tree or using antibiotics. We’re focused on building a business that will enable a healthier food system.”

Te trick en visions GOOD Meat CultureChicken–andeventually beef and pork that they plan to launch – to be the meat, not an alternative form of meat but the ubiquitous meat that most people consume today.

To do this, Tetrick is trying to bring the costs down–below that of existing animal proteins. “It’s also important we partner with industry players, researchers and governments to share knowledge, distribution and scale. This is the future of food. Our first commercial sale of a cultured meat product was chicken and we’re in the early stages of research and development on beef. We’re working with regulators in several countries on an efficient pathway to market and talking to chefs around the world.”