First in the world. The Czech company has an official permit to produce laboratory meat for pets
Prague-based Czech company Bene Meat has received European certification so that its lab-grown meat can be used as pet food. The domestic start-up is the first company in the world with this permission from the EU. The company plans to increase production from the current few kilograms to hundreds of kilograms or units of tons per day next year, the start-up said on Wednesday.
Reuters reported on this on Wednesday, November 8, and the company itself boasted about it on the X social network, which later sent a press release to Novinky.
"Today we became the first company in the world that has an official permit to produce and sell cultured meat for dogs and cats," stated Roman Kříž, CEO of the Czech biotechnology start-up, founded three years ago. "We are excited to have achieved certification of the new raw material from the European Feed Materials Register, binding for the entire European Union," he added.
Kříž told Reuters that the company now plans to test how the product tastes on animals, as well as ramp up production at its current Prague lab and at new premises it is currently looking for.
"The testing will take place over a number of months and then we will be at the stage where we can talk about contracts," he continued.
From the cells of living animals
"Like other lab meat companies, we use cells from live animals that we grow in a device known as a bioreactor. It is powered by a supply of nutrients," he added.
A number of companies around the world are scrambling to develop commercially viable lab-grown meat and fish products to appeal to consumers concerned about the ethical issues and environmental impact of livestock farming, which scientists say is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
The company itself announced in its press release from January of this year that cultured meat "may soon become part of PET FOOD", i.e. food for pets.
"The Czech start-up Bene Meat Technologies has the necessary technology for its production and will apply for its approval in the USA and the EU in early 2023," they wrote at the time.
And the use for "pet food" is therefore already the first to be approved.
"We know that at this stage of the research we have hit upon the needs of PET FOOD manufacturers who are constantly looking for ethically and economically meaningful ways to satisfy their demanding customers, pet owners, with their products. And we are personally excited that for the first time in history we are offering a quality meat alternative without killing animals at a competitive price," concluded Kříž.