UK leads the way in selling lab-grown meat for pet food

The UK has become the first European country to approve putting lab-grown meat into pet food. 

Regulators cleared the use of chicken cultivated from animal cells, which lab meat company Meatly is planning to put on sale as early as this year. 

No applications for cell-cultivated products for human consumption have yet been authorised in Great Britain. Lab-grown meat has proved divisive, with critics saying it is expensive, as well as highlighting the potentially negative impact on farmers.

Meatly CEO Owen Ensor said the company was proving there is a safe and low-cost way to bring cultivated meat to market. He said owners could soon give their pets “the real meat they need and crave, in a way that is kinder to our planet and other animals”. 

Sarah Hormozi, head of science and education at industry association UK Pet Food (formerly PFMA), said cultivated meat, insects and other novel proteins were “timely and welcomed”, as “the demand for dietary proteins continues to grow, along with the increasing pressure on environmental resources”. 

She said UK Pet Food encouraged further research to ensure novel proteins “are fit for purpose, nutritionally appropriate and safe for the species they are intended for before making them more cost-effective and accessible”.