Czech Company Gets EU Approval for Lab-Grown Meat for Pet Food

Czech start-up Bene Meat Technologies is the first to win European Union registration for laboratory-grown meat for use in pet food and plans to boost production to make up to several metric tons per day next year, the company said on Wednesday.

A number of firms are racing globally to develop commercially viable lab-grown meat and fish products to appeal to consumers concerned about ethical issues and the environmental impact of livestock farming, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

In the United States, Upside Foods and Good Meat won regulatory approval in June for their so-called cultivated meat, made from animal cells, for human consumption, a second place after Singapore. But large-scale production is yet to begin.

Bene Meat has turned its focus to the pet food sector to deliver a product that can be marketed to global pet food makers as a raw material for inclusion in their final products.

The product received certification in the European Feed Materials Register, the company said.

Bene Meat next plans to test how the product tastes to animals, while scaling up production at its current Prague lab and at new premises it is looking for.

The start-up, set up in 2020 and owned by Czech medical devices producer BTL group, has more than 80 researchers and developers and has invested “high single millions” of euros into development, Kriz said.

The firm, like others, used cells from live animals, which grow in a vessel known as a bioreactor, fed by a supply of nutrients. He declined to comment on details.

The company is in talks with pet food makers on supplies, but also aims to work with them to potentially set up production lines at their current facilities. It also plans to develop its own brand of final pet food products.