The concept of lab-grown meat, also
known as “cultivated” or “cell-based” meat, is being marketed as a
solution to various issues, including climate change and factory
farming, but it is actually more similar to a science experiment than a
food product, Renz said.
His article “breaks down the science
and the law around this disgusting product and [ ] suggests that [we]
should think twice before joining Bill Gates in celebrating this fake
meat.”
Lab-grown meat is created using
immortalised cell lines, which are cells that have been genetically
modified to divide indefinitely, similar to cancer cells, by switching
on the enzyme telomerase, which allows them to dodge ageing and grow
endlessly.
These immortalised cells share certain
traits with cancer cells, including non-stop growth, genetic chaos and
energy overdrive, which raises concerns about the safety of consuming
these cells, as they can become unstable and pile up weird changes that
make them unpredictable.
The issue of lab-grown meat is not just a scientific one, but also a legal and regulatory one.
The legal status of lab-grown meat is
also uncertain, as it does not meet the definition of “meat” under the
Federal Meat Inspection Act, which defines meat as coming from the
muscles of animals. And the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
requires food to be safe and labelled correctly.
Companies such as those backed by Bill
Gates and regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration
(“FDA”) and the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) must
consider the potential risks and consequences of producing and consuming
these products.
The labelling of lab-grown “meat” is a
problem. The FDA and USDA have approved lab-grown chicken but this has
not clarified the legal issues. US law also bans food labels that
mislead people and courts have ruled that labels must be clear and can’t
just be technically true but they have to make sense to regular people,
which could lead to lawsuits and legal troubles for companies producing
lab-grown meat....<<<Read More>>>...