Latest news with #OwenEnsor
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Pet Food Made From 'Lab-Grown Meat' Is Now Available and People Have Opinions
Today, there are more options than ever for vegans (or people who want to eat less meat) to enjoy foods like burgers and chicken nuggets without actually eating real meat. There are so many different types of protein that can be used to reproduce similar textures and flavors, and it's making it a lot easier to avoid meat for those who choose to. On the heels of vegan meat like Impossible Burgers are developments in lab-grown meat, which basically is the real thing, only it's made with the help of science, not animals. It's not widely available quite yet — at least, not for humans. Because now, it's official: The first lab-grown pet food has hit the market. On Wednesday, February 12, news station WDRB News shared a report on YouTube that is raising a lot of questions. According to the outlet, the world's first lab-grown meat for pets is now for sale in the United Kingdom. The food in question is actually a new treat called Chick Bites, and it contains 4% chicken meat that was made in a lab by a company called Meatly. As the news anchors explained, it's made by sampling animal cells and culturing them "with water and nutrients." Judging by some responses to the news on social media, not everybody is on board with the idea. One person tweeted, "I'd not eat it, so I'd certainly never expect my dog to. What's wrong with natural food, you know, actual real chicken that we've eaten for thousands of years." Others are celebrating the development. One person wrote, "As long as the lab stuff is healthy I don't see a problem; it would cause less suffering for farm animals." Owen Ensor, the founder of Meatly, told CNN that pets are actually the highest consumers of meat, not humans. "Our intention was always to do cultivated meat for pet food," he said. "We recognized that there was a huge burning need in the pet world, with 20% of meat globally being eaten by our pets." It seems like dogs appear to be fans of the new meat. Ensor said that in product testing, many of the dogs "preferred it to their baseline diet," which is really saying something! So far, the new treats are only available in the UK, but if they're a success, it wouldn't be too surprising if they made their way to the United States soon. It will certainly be interesting to see what even more dogs think of it when they get their paws on these snacks!🐶🐾🐾
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘World's first' lab-grown meat for pets launches in the UK
In what's been called a world first, consumers in the UK are now able to buy a pet treat made with lab-grown meat. The treat contains plant-based ingredients and 4% chicken meat cultivated in a lab by Meatly, a London-based startup that last year became the first company in the world to get regulatory approval for this type of meat to be used in pet food. Lab-grown or cultivated meat is made by harvesting a tiny sample of animals cells — from a chicken egg, in this case — and then culturing them in a steel tank called a bioreactor, along with water and nutrients. In a few weeks, a protein mass is produced with a much smaller environmental impact than growing a live animal, in terms of land and water use, as well as carbon emissions — and without having to kill an actual chicken. 'It's the first time ever a consumer has been able to buy a product made from cultivated meat for their pet, and it's the first time in Europe that a consumer has been able to buy cultivated meat full stop, whether for humans or animals,' says Owen Ensor, who founded Meatly in 2022. 'Our intention was always to do cultivated meat for pet food. We recognized that there was a huge burning need in the pet world, with 20% of meat globally being eaten by our pets. The average Labrador eats more meat than its owner,' he added. For now, the treat — called 'Chick Bites' and produced in collaboration with pet food brand The Pack — is in limited release and only available in one London outlet of Pets at Home, a chain that operates 457 stores in the UK and was an early investor in Meatly. It costs £3.49 ($4.30) for 50 grams. In recent years, meat alternatives have been growing in popularity, but unlike plant-based products, which use protein such as soy or peas to mimic real meat, and products that use the fermentation of microbes like fungi or yeasts to make the protein, cultivated meat is not yet widely available. Only a handful of countries have approved the sale of lab-grown meat, including Singapore, in 2020, the United States, in 2023, and Israel in 2024. However, two US states — Florida and Alabama — have since banned cultivated meat, and none is currently available for sale in the country. In 2023, Italy became the first country to ban the sale of lab-grown meat, although the measure has since been challenged by the European Union. Beyond the issues of regulatory approval and consumer acceptance, cultivated meat is still very expensive to make. 'Currently we're about £30 (about $37) per kilogram of the chicken that we're producing, and we'd want to be between £5 and £10 (between $6.20 and $12.40),' says Ensor. 'Our process is still quite expensive, but we've made incredible progress bringing the cost down, particularly of the nutrients we are feeding the chicken cells with. Those are often the most expensive component, and we've brought those down from what has been £700 (about $867) per liter to what is currently 26 pence per liter (about 32 cents). We have made this more cost efficient by orders of thousands in the last two years and are continuing on that journey.' Meatly's process involves taking 'a single sample of cells from one chicken egg one time,' Ensor explains, which is sufficient to create 'an infinite amount of meat forever more.' The cells are fed with a mix of amino acids, vitamins and minerals for about a week, after which the meat is ready and has the consistency of 'chicken pâté.' Meat made this way is nutritionally equivalent to the real thing, he adds, but free of steroids, hormones or antibiotics. Depending on the methods used in traditional animal agriculture, Ensor says it uses 50 to 60% less land, 30 to 40% less water, and creates about 40% fewer CO2 emissions. However, one of the biggest challenges for cultured meat companies is scaling up to be able to make enough product for a widespread commercial launch. Ensor says that Meatly currently uses 50-liter (13-gallon) bioreactors to grow its cells, but to be able to scale up production, it's planning to move to a new facility that will employ 20,000-liter (5,200-gallon) bioreactors instead. In product tests with dogs, he says the treat was enthusiastically received. 'Many of them preferred it to their baseline diet,' he says. Pet owners — who are technically barred from trying the product even if they wanted to, because it is not approved for human consumption — have also responded positively, Ensor adds. 'Once you start explaining that the process is very similar to making beer and that is dramatically more sustainable (than conventional meat production), that we've done a lot of safety testing and have regular engagements with the regulators to make sure our process adheres to all of the necessary rules, people are just excited about it. A lot of people who have pets are animal lovers and want to find a more sustainable and kind way of feeding their pets.' According to Tuck Seng Wong, a professor of biomanufacturing at the University of Sheffield, in the UK, and the deputy director of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre, who's not involved with Meatly, cultivated meat technology has advanced significantly and is now comparable in maturity to other alternative protein technologies, such as fermentation and insect cultivation. 'Pet food accounts for up to a quarter of total meat consumption,' he says. 'Therefore, developing an alternative method for pet food production that ensures food safety while preserving the essential nutrients pets require marks a significant milestone.' As the technology continues to advance, he adds, the culture media used for growing animal cells will become increasingly cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. 'Using cultured meat for pet food is a logical choice, provided it meets a price point acceptable to consumers while ensuring high food safety standards and maintaining, or even enhancing, the essential nutritional value for pets.' Christopher Bryant, a psychologist and honorary research fellow at the University of Bath, who studies consumer acceptance of alternative meat, and is also not involved with Meatly, says that lab-grown meat still has to win over consumers. 'There's a lot of evidence that consumer acceptance of cultivated meat is strongly associated with familiarity,' he adds. 'Once a product becomes more familiar in any form, it will tend to be viewed as more normal, and therefore will tend to be more accepted.' After making pet food, which it hopes will help consumers familiarize with lab-grown meat, Meatly aims to make cultured protein for people, too. 'The UK Food Standards Agency is currently undergoing a two-year project to set out the approval process for cultivated meat,' Ensor says. 'We hope to be part of that process, and everything in our production is safe for humans, it's just we don't have the regulatory pathway yet. But once that's established, we would love to bring sustainable, healthy and kind meat to people as well.'
CNN
12-02-2025
- Business
- CNN
‘World's first' lab-grown meat for pets launches in the UK
In what's been called a world first, consumers in the UK are now able to buy a pet treat made with lab-grown meat. The treat contains plant-based ingredients and 4% chicken meat cultivated in a lab by Meatly, a London-based startup that last year became the first company in the world to get regulatory approval for this type of meat to be used in pet food. Lab-grown or cultivated meat is made by harvesting a tiny sample of animals cells — from a chicken egg, in this case — and then culturing them in a steel tank called a bioreactor, along with water and nutrients. In a few weeks, a protein mass is produced with a much smaller environmental impact than growing a live animal, in terms of land and water use, as well as carbon emissions — and without having to kill an actual chicken. 'It's the first time ever a consumer has been able to buy a product made from cultivated meat for their pet, and it's the first time in Europe that a consumer has been able to buy cultivated meat full stop, whether for humans or animals,' says Owen Ensor, who founded Meatly in 2022. 'Our intention was always to do cultivated meat for pet food. We recognized that there was a huge burning need in the pet world, with 20% of meat globally being eaten by our pets. The average Labrador eats more meat than its owner,' he added. For now, the treat — called 'Chick Bites' and produced in collaboration with pet food brand The Pack — is in limited release and only available in one London outlet of Pets at Home, a chain that operates 457 stores in the UK and was an early investor in Meatly. It costs £3.49 ($4.30) for 50 grams. In recent years, meat alternatives have been growing in popularity, but unlike plant-based products, which use protein such as soy or peas to mimic real meat, and products that use the fermentation of microbes like fungi or yeasts to make the protein, cultivated meat is not yet widely available. Only a handful of countries have approved the sale of lab-grown meat, including Singapore, in 2020, the United States, in 2023, and Israel in 2024. However, two US states — Florida and Alabama — have since banned cultivated meat, and none is currently available for sale in the country. In 2023, Italy became the first country to ban the sale of lab-grown meat, although the measure has since been challenged by the European Union. Beyond the issues of regulatory approval and consumer acceptance, cultivated meat is still very expensive to make. 'Currently we're about £30 (about $37) per kilogram of the chicken that we're producing, and we'd want to be between £5 and £10 (between $6.20 and $12.40),' says Ensor. 'Our process is still quite expensive, but we've made incredible progress bringing the cost down, particularly of the nutrients we are feeding the chicken cells with. Those are often the most expensive component, and we've brought those down from what has been £700 (about $867) per liter to what is currently 26 pence per liter (about 32 cents). We have made this more cost efficient by orders of thousands in the last two years and are continuing on that journey.' Meatly's process involves taking 'a single sample of cells from one chicken egg one time,' Ensor explains, which is sufficient to create 'an infinite amount of meat forever more.' The cells are fed with a mix of amino acids, vitamins and minerals for about a week, after which the meat is ready and has the consistency of 'chicken pâté.' Meat made this way is nutritionally equivalent to the real thing, he adds, but free of steroids, hormones or antibiotics. Depending on the methods used in traditional animal agriculture, Ensor says it uses 50 to 60% less land, 30 to 40% less water, and creates about 40% fewer CO2 emissions. However, one of the biggest challenges for cultured meat companies is scaling up to be able to make enough product for a widespread commercial launch. Ensor says that Meatly currently uses 50-liter (13-gallon) bioreactors to grow its cells, but to be able to scale up production, it's planning to move to a new facility that will employ 20,000-liter (5,200-gallon) bioreactors instead. In product tests with dogs, he says the treat was enthusiastically received. 'Many of them preferred it to their baseline diet,' he says. Pet owners — who are technically barred from trying the product even if they wanted to, because it is not approved for human consumption — have also responded positively, Ensor adds. 'Once you start explaining that the process is very similar to making beer and that is dramatically more sustainable (than conventional meat production), that we've done a lot of safety testing and have regular engagements with the regulators to make sure our process adheres to all of the necessary rules, people are just excited about it. A lot of people who have pets are animal lovers and want to find a more sustainable and kind way of feeding their pets.' According to Tuck Seng Wong, a professor of biomanufacturing at the University of Sheffield, in the UK, and the deputy director of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre, who's not involved with Meatly, cultivated meat technology has advanced significantly and is now comparable in maturity to other alternative protein technologies, such as fermentation and insect cultivation. 'Pet food accounts for up to a quarter of total meat consumption,' he says. 'Therefore, developing an alternative method for pet food production that ensures food safety while preserving the essential nutrients pets require marks a significant milestone.' As the technology continues to advance, he adds, the culture media used for growing animal cells will become increasingly cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. 'Using cultured meat for pet food is a logical choice, provided it meets a price point acceptable to consumers while ensuring high food safety standards and maintaining, or even enhancing, the essential nutritional value for pets.' Christopher Bryant, a psychologist and honorary research fellow at the University of Bath, who studies consumer acceptance of alternative meat, and is also not involved with Meatly, says that lab-grown meat still has to win over consumers. 'There's a lot of evidence that consumer acceptance of cultivated meat is strongly associated with familiarity,' he adds. 'Once a product becomes more familiar in any form, it will tend to be viewed as more normal, and therefore will tend to be more accepted.' After making pet food, which it hopes will help consumers familiarize with lab-grown meat, Meatly aims to make cultured protein for people, too. 'The UK Food Standards Agency is currently undergoing a two-year project to set out the approval process for cultivated meat,' Ensor says. 'We hope to be part of that process, and everything in our production is safe for humans, it's just we don't have the regulatory pathway yet. But once that's established, we would love to bring sustainable, healthy and kind meat to people as well.'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lab-grown meat goes on sale in UK dog food
Dog food made from meat that was grown in factory vats has gone on sale in the UK. Supplier Meatly said the "chick bites" were the first pet food products made from cultivated meat to be sold commercially anywhere in the world. It said the technology could eventually "eliminate farm animals from the pet food industry" and reduce carbon emissions as well as the use of land and water in meat production. A trial of the dog treats began at a pet store in Brentford, London, on Friday. Owen Ensor, who founded London-based Meatly in 2022, said the manufacturing process was similar to brewing beer. He said: "You take cells from a single chicken egg. From that we can create an infinite amount of meat for evermore. "We put it in large, steel fermenters... and after a week we're able to harvest healthy, delicious chicken for our pets." Lab-grown meat, which is genetically indistinguishable from traditionally produced meat, has proved a divisive topic in some countries. In 2020, Singapore became the first country to authorise the sale of cell-cultivated meat for human consumption, followed by the United States three years later. However, Italy and the US states of Alabama and Florida have instituted bans. Advocates point to environmental benefits, while critics say cultivated meat is expensive and could harm farming. Prof Guy Poppy, from the University of Bristol, said it addressed concerns over animal welfare. The former chief scientific adviser at the government's Food Standards Agency added: "This is an opportunity to offer the advantages of meat but without the carbon and environmental footprint." Prof Andrew Knight, from the University of Winchester, said: "About 20% of all the meat that is consumed by high pet-owning nations - and that would include the United Kingdom - is actually consumed by pets not people." At a Bristol pet store and cafe, dog owners interviewed by the BBC had mixed views. Charlotte Bloyce said her pet's carbon footprint was worth considering, while Allie Betts said she would not eat lab-grown meat herself and was reluctant to feed it to her dog. The British Veterinary Association told the BBC it wanted more research on the safety and sustainability of cultivated meat. Mr Ensor said he could understand people being "a little bit squeamish" about the product. However, he said it was approved by food regulators and did not contain hormones, steroids and other chemicals sometimes found in meat. Meatly's chief executive said the product had become much more commercially viable. He acknowledged: "Currently it is expensive but we've made great strides bringing down the cost dramatically over the last two years and are going to continue to do so." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Lab-raised meat 'not the enemy', say farmers Lab-grown meat set to be sold in UK pet food Ron DeSantis bans 'global elite' lab-grown meat
BBC News
09-02-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Lab-grown meat goes on sale in UK dog food
Dog food made from meat that was grown in factory vats has gone on sale in the Meatly said the "chick bites" were the first pet food products made from cultivated meat to be sold commercially anywhere in the said the technology could eventually "eliminate farm animals from the pet food industry" and reduce carbon emissions as well as the use of land and water in meat production.A trial of the dog treats began at a pet store in Brentford, London, on Friday. Owen Ensor, who founded London-based Meatly in 2022, said the manufacturing process was similar to brewing said: "You take cells from a single chicken egg. From that we can create an infinite amount of meat for evermore."We put it in large, steel fermenters... and after a week we're able to harvest healthy, delicious chicken for our pets." Lab-grown meat, which is genetically indistinguishable from traditionally produced meat, has proved a divisive topic in some 2020, Singapore became the first country to authorise the sale of cell-cultivated meat for human consumption, followed by the United States three years Italy and the US states of Alabama and Florida have instituted point to environmental benefits, while critics say cultivated meat is expensive and could harm Guy Poppy, from the University of Bristol, said it addressed concerns over animal former chief scientific adviser at the government's Food Standards Agency added: "This is an opportunity to offer the advantages of meat but without the carbon and environmental footprint."Prof Andrew Knight, from the University of Winchester, said: "About 20% of all the meat that is consumed by high pet-owning nations - and that would include the United Kingdom - is actually consumed by pets not people." At a Bristol pet store and cafe, dog owners interviewed by the BBC had mixed Bloyce said her pet's carbon footprint was worth considering, while Allie Betts said she would not eat lab-grown meat herself and was reluctant to feed it to her British Veterinary Association told the BBC it wanted more research on the safety and sustainability of cultivated Ensor said he could understand people being "a little bit squeamish" about the he said it was approved by food regulators and did not contain hormones, steroids and other chemicals sometimes found in chief executive said the product had become much more commercially acknowledged: "Currently it is expensive but we've made great strides bringing down the cost dramatically over the last two years and are going to continue to do so." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
