London: First manufacturer sells dog treats based on lab-grown meat
In February, the British company Meatly became the first company in the world to offer lab-grown chicken meat for pet food.
(Image: Meatly)
The British company Meatly claims to have been the first company in the world to offer lab-grown chicken meat for pet food since February. Together with the plant-based dog food manufacturer “The Pack”, the product “Chick Bites” was offered in a limited edition in the “Pets at Home” branch in London.
According to Meatly, the Chick Bites are a mixture of plant-based ingredients with cultured chicken meat. The company received approval to produce the meat in the summer of 2024. According to Meatly, a single cell sample from a chicken egg is sufficient. This could be used to produce enough cultured meat to feed pets in the long term. The cultured meat is comparable to conventional chicken breast in terms of taste and nutritional physiology and contains all the necessary amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins.
For more sustainability
Meatly plans to expand production over the next three to five years and make the artificial chicken meat more widely available. Further collaborations with The Pack and Pets at Home are being planned. The retailer is committed to sustainability and wants to sell products with lower carbon and water consumption to significantly reduce the environmental impact of pet food.
Laboratory meat has been tested for years, but it is not yet readily available in stores for humans. The first companies have received initial approvals to sell the meat in the USA. The industry faces various challenges, such as how to scale up production properly. Meatly did not provide any information on how long the production process will take. The company did not immediately respond to a query.
(mack)
