Israel has an uneven contribution to the cultivated meat market. This means growing real meat with live cells, but circumventing animal suffering. It’s meat in a lab, if you will. Impossible Burgers is “meat” made from pea protein that just tastes like a whole lot of coconut oil. Cultivated meat is the real thing but made in a lab. No animals need to be slaughtered for lab meat. In Israel think Aleph Farms, Steakholder Foods,Super Meat, Believer Meats, and now BioBetter.

BioBetter just sent Green Prophet an announcement that it has opened its food-grade pilot facility to grow raw materials for the expanding cultivated meat market. The company has pioneered a unique protein manufacturing platform using tobacco plants as self-sustained, animal-free bioreactors.

They tell Green Prophet: “BioBetter is going to market raw materials, the growth factors, ingredients that are needed in the cultivated meat production process. We are not making bioreactors. Also, we are not making actual meat, we produce growth factors in tobacco plants that function like bioreactors for the cultivated meat industry.”

Currently cultivated meat production processes are relatively expensive, making it a challenge to scale up and reach price parity with animal-based counterparts: “Cultivated meat is still very expensive in comparison to conventional meat and the key is to reduce the growth medium costs to a minimum,” explains Amit Yaari, the CEO of BioBetter.

Companies like Israel’s Aleph Farms have introduced small steaks but the cost is hundreds to thousands of dollars to produce meat in a lab. BioBetter could help Aleph Farms make steaks faster and at less cost.

BioBetter makes raw materials for the cultivated meat market“Our target is to reduce the production cost of growth factors, including insulin, a key part of the growth
medium, to $1 per gram which is a 100-fold less than the going rate today,” notes Yaari.

BioBetter has achieved five impressive milestones in just the past year:

1. Production scale-up/building pilot plan
2. Commercial scale cultivation of insulin- and FGF-expressing tobacco plants
3. Reaching GF expression levels that enable a significant reduction of production costs
4. Significant regulatory progresses and advances with the Israel Ministry of Health
5. Collaboration with leading cultivated meat companies

BioBetter’s technology is a new purpose for the traditionally shunned tobacco plants, transforming them
into bioreactors for the production of growth factors for meat. Tobacco plants are typically used to make vaccines.

Growth factors for cell growth play a key role in the proliferation and differentiation of cultured meat cells, allowing for the formation of authentic and well-structured muscle tissue. Designed for both environmental safety and efficiency, these bioreactors will be grown in a large- scale, net house cultivation system. The plants are carefully engineered to prevent the escape of any transgenic material.

They are induced to express growth factors only when chemically triggered, and the company exclusively uses non-food, non-feed tobacco plants to eliminate any risk of inadvertent consumption or cross-contamination of food crops.

Sustainability at the core?

While the science talk may inspire the common sense sustainability folk to just return to actual farming or hunting, “Our commitment to sustainability shines through in every facet of our operations,” says Yaari. “We plan to use recycled and low-quality water for irrigation, minimize nitrogen fertilizer use, and reduce emissions and environmental impact.

The newly established pilot plant has the capacity to process 100kg of tobacco plant-derived GFs
daily. Constructed in adherence to the highest quality standards, the facility meets all regulatory
requirements for production of food-grade growth factors, including FGF2 and insulin. It currently is
progressing through essential stages of securing approval from the Ministry of Health for food
manufacturing licensing. The company is committed to scalability, adhering to ISO2200 and HACCP
standards.

BioBetter also made breakthroughs in the cultivation of bovine insulin-expressing plants. Several
thousand square meters of FGF2-expressing tobacco plants are already thriving in northern Israel.

It’s the first time growth factor sources have been successfully planted in large net-houses, in four
locations, and with a fruitful harvest obtained in its first season.

Plans are underway to cultivate more FGF2 and insulin-expressing plants, with commercial roll-out projected for 2024.

The 250 million USD global cultivated meat sector is poised for substantial growth, yet its realization hinges upon a significant supply of growth factors. The most significant challenge of the cultivated meat industry is to produce and scale up at the right cost,” notes Aviv Oren, Director of Business Engagement and Innovation, the Good Food
Institute, Israel. “BioBetter’s technology, which is based on molecular farming of food-grade growth
factors in the required quantities and costs for industrial production, is a pivotal addition that has
the potential to accelerate this industry.”

In 2022, BioBetter secured 10 million USD in an A-round investment led by Jerusalem Venture
Partners (JVP). The company also is an active member of the Israeli Cultivated Meat Consortium,
which unites academic institutions, large companies, and start-ups to collaboratively advance the
field of cultivated meat.

Interested in this market? We have created an overview on molecular farming in Israel.

The post BioBetter accelerates molecular farming in tobacco plants appeared first on Green Prophet.

Each time you sit down to eat a meal with meat products, do you ever take a minute to think about what it took to get this food on your plate? Every year, 70 billion land animals are slaughtered for consumption worldwide. While many organizations and law enforcement across the globe work to ensure the slaughter of animals is done without inflicting pain on the animals, it is nearly impossible to ensure that all slaughterhouses are following these rules. In addition, slaughtering animals in general is an inhumane practice and is done for the sole purpose of feeding us. However, the cultivated meat industry and specifically lab meat is taking the world by storm and may be the end of animal slaughter.

What is lab-cultivated meat?

Lab-grown or cultivated meat uses animal cells to grow meat in a lab as an alternative to slaughter. Labs growing cultivated meat take animal cells from a live, healthy animal in a harmless skin sample. This innovative way of producing meat was originally concocted in the early 2000s but was brought to media attention in 2013 when a cultivated meat patty was tried at a conference in London for a lump sum of money. Later Singapore was the first country to begin sales of cultured meat.

Israel is one of the leaders in the cultivated meat industry. In 2020, the company SuperMeat opened a restaurant in Tel Aviv called “The Chicken” which offered a cultivated chicken burger to see if their customers noticed the difference. Other Israeli companies developing cultivated meat are Aleph Farms and Believer Meats.

Environmental impact

A carnivore diet takes a major toll on one’s carbon footprint. In fact, meat makes up 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Beef is the world’s most detrimental food product in carbon emissions due to methane production which makes up 32% of greenhouse gas emissions.

After the livestock has been slaughtered, there are additional greenhouse gases that go into the atmosphere from the transportation of livestock, processing in factories, and then the packaging of the final product. In total, the entire process, from the initial raising of livestock to the final destination of stocking groceries stores is a constant carbon dump.

Deforestation is also a major problem when it comes to livestock farming. Much of the land livestock is raised on has been deforested for the sole purpose of raising more and more cattle. In addition, the constant grazing of livestock diminishes grassland productivity to the point where grass can no longer grow. Eventually, farmers need to revert to unconventional methods of crop irrigation by using polluting fertilizers so livestock can be raised.

And don’t forget about the extensive water use that goes into farming. It takes 1,799 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef. This comes from the keeping of land, cleaning, and drinking requirements of the cattle. Especially in the heat of summer and in bad drought conditions, water use can exceed a considerable amount and massively increase the amount of water needed to grow livestock.

Is lab meat kosher?

There has been much speculation on the increasing popularity of cultivated meat in Israel. Especially for religious Jews and Rabbis who keep kosher, many are questioning the reliability of the industry.

For meat to be kosher, the animal must be in good health, killed a certain way, drained of its blood, and salted. In addition, only certain parts of an animal can be consumed. All these parts of keeping kosher in relation to meat make the discussion of cultivated meat more complicated.

However, back in January of this year, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau declared that the steak made from Aleph Farms is kosher, marking a monumental decision in the cultivated meat industry. He claimed that because the meat was grown instead of slaughtered, the meat is not actually meat, and can be thought of like a vegetable. Because the meat does not contain milk nor dairy and no blood from an animal, Rabbi David Lau declared it to be parve. Dozens of other rabbis from the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization have also called cultivated meat kosher.

While Rabbi Lau’s ruling is particularly for the meat produced in Aleph Farms, it is still unsure if all cultivated meat can be considered kosher as there needs to be a careful inspection at all cultivated meat companies and they need to be certified to be kosher. In addition, many may argue that it is not kosher as cultivated meat has animal origins as it is derived from animal cells.

Rabbi Genack from the Orthodox Union Kosher Division has questioned the reliability of cultivated meat being kosher as he has said that even microscopic specimens of cells derived from a living animal would not be considered kosher. In order for the meat to be kosher, the cells need to be taken from a kosher slaughtered animal.

Another aspect of the cultivated meat industry is the question of how Orthodox Jews can keep their legitimacy when choosing meals to ensure they don’t sin on Jewish law. Rabbi Yonathan Neril from The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development is an environmental advocate for cultivated meat.

While he believes that in itself lab-grown meat is kosher, it should not be mixed with dairy. According to Neril who tells Green Prophet: “If Jews start eating lab-grown meat with cow’s cheese, then they might come to mistakenly eat cow’s meat with cow’s cheese, which would be a violation of Jewish law.”

Neril insists that Jews mixing cultivated meat with normally derived cheese can fray on the principle of marit ayin, which is when the action of an observant Jew may seem unkosher when in actuality it is.

This term is coined by the judgment of others’ skepticism; the Jew is technically adhering to the law. However, Rabbi Neril added, “If lab-grown meat and lab-grown cheese replace animal meat and animal cheese in mainstream consumption, then it could be that over time, it would no longer be a problem in Jewish law to eat the lab-grown meat and lab-grown cheese together.”

Earth or Tradition?

Unfortunately what this means for the kosher community is one’s own personal opinion. With the current emergencies that face our climate, it is important to consider the environmental benefits of choosing cultivated meat. The environmental advantage of cultivated meat is enormous and can massively decrease global greenhouse gases. In addition, kosher law requires slaughter, which is devastating in itself.

The final decision is still in the hands of Jews, which reflects the ideals of modernity. Is it time we update the traditional laws of Judaism and put what’s facing us in the climate first in line? Are Orthodox Jews willing to sacrifice what’s traditional for the sake of our planet?

The post Is lab meat kosher? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israel is the global hotspot for alternative meat technology. The country’s growing population and limited farmable land, and climate change-induced water shortages have motivated Israeli companies to focus on developing cultivated meat as an environmentally-sustainable alternative. Alternative meat can mean a lot of things: it can be meat made in a lab using original meat or animal cells to create chicken or beef or fish; it can also mean creating meat-like proteins from plants or insects. But cultivated meat is meat that is real meat, made in a warehouse from original meat or animal cells, and which removes a lifetime of misery and pain for any animal by taking the animals out of the story.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog have publicly endorsed cultivated meat by investing $18 million USD and allowing Israel to ultimately lead in alternative meat and protein production.. Israeli start-up companies and academic labs dedicated to advancing cultivated meat technology has become a national research and development priority for Israel. And Israeli rabbis have essentially declared cultivated meat to be “non-meat” by agreeing its kosher status to be parve, the same as bread, apples, and vegan foods we eat today. It is classified to them as neither meat nor milk.

In 2021, Israel accounted for nearly a quarter of venture capital dollars invested in cultivated meat start-ups globally. Consider that three of the first eight cultivated meat companies in the world began in Israel, and today all three of them —Aleph Farms, Super Meat and Believer Meats, along with the new Nasdaq-listed Steakholder Foods—are poised for international distribution once the cost of producing these cultivated meats can be at par with traditional meat.

The top cultivated meat companies from Israel

Believer Meats, formerly known as Future Meat Technologies, is a cultivated meat company excited to scale to feed the world. Driven by a mission to ensure that all future generations can enjoy real and delicious meat, Believer’s technology and process will make meat accessible and affordable to all. Believer Meats culture meat from chicken cells and is working on cultured lamb kebabs and beef burgers. Based in Israel, its main office is located in Jerusalem, while its primary production facility is operating in Rehovot. 

Aleph Farms invested in by people like Leonardo DiCaprio, grows cultivated beef steaks, from non-genetically engineered cells, that are not immortalized, isolated from a living cow, without slaughtering the animal and with a significantly reduced impact to the environment. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Biomedical Engineering Faculty at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The company’s vision is to provide unconditional nutrition for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

SuperMeat also from Israel is developing cultivated chicken meat, grown directly from cells, in a sustainable and animal-friendly process. 

BioBetter is creating complex proteins for the cultivated meat industry. They apply advances uses in the lab for making vaccines in tabacco plants to procure proteins that can be used for cultivated meat companies. Consider them a raw material supplier to the alt meat industry.

Steakholder Foods, formerly MeaTech 3D  “STKH” (formerly MITC), is developing a slaughter-free solution for producing a variety of beef, and seafood products — both as raw materials and whole cuts — as an alternative to industrialized farming and fishing.

This past month, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drugs Administration approved the sale of cultivated meat in the US, which is a landmark decision marking it safe for consumption. Until now the only country that allowed sale of cultivated meat to the consumer was Singapore. Two prominent US companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, successfully introduced their “cultivated chicken” at a cost that competes with regular meat. Not long ago companies such as Aleph introduced steaks but at a cost of thousands of dollars an ounce to produce. 

According to the MIT Technology Review, Upside, one of the companies that received approval from the FDA, can churn out 50,000 pounds (22,600 kg) of completed goods annually. It will eventually be able to increase to a maximum annual capacity of roughly 400,000 pounds (180,000 kg). 

How is cultivated meat made?

Compared to meat alternatives cultivated meat is made in a lab from real meat. It takes harmless existing cells from an animal and growing them inside what scientists call a cultivator. This cultivator mimics what occurs inside an animal’s reproductive organs to give the cells warmth and the environment necessary to transform it into meat. This includes proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. A cultivator is very similar to growing plants inside a greenhouse. Eventually, the product produced is the same as regularly processed meat at a cellular level. However, it is made in a much more environmentally-friendly way, according to founders of the company. 

The emergence of cultivated meat represents a significant milestone in the quest for sustainable food production. With the tagline of “meat without slaughter,” these products offer a humane and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional animal agriculture. Cultivated meat technology holds tremendous promise for resource conservation.They can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate the strain on land resources.

According to the Good Food Institute, cultivated meat can reduce water usage by up to 78% and land requirements by up to 95% compared to traditional beef farming. 

The Israeli population has also shown a growing interest in alternative diets. A survey conducted in 2017 revealed that 5% of Israelis identify as vegan, 8% as vegetarian, and an additional 23% expressed a desire to reduce their meat consumption. 

Even the Israeli army has embraced alternative proteins, providing vegan meals and animal product-free gear to recruits. While cultivated meat may not appeal to those who altogether avoid animal products, it is expected to resonate with individuals who are already concerned about the environmental impact, inefficiencies, and ethical concerns associated with conventional animal farming.

Approving lab-grown meat for sale marks a significant step towards a more sustainable future. As more countries and companies embrace alternative proteins, cultivated meat has the potential to revolutionize the food industry and address pressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and animal welfare concerns.

The post Israel’s uneven impact in the cultivated meat market appeared first on Green Prophet.

Consumers envision cultivated meat to be a significant part of the meat market; Study reveals compelling support among young Britons and Americans.

The research, published on May 11, 2021 by the journal Foods, affirms that cultivated meat is likely to make up a major part of consumers’ future diets. The study showed patterns of greater openness to trying such products by younger generational groups: 87-89% of Gen Z adults, 84-85% of Millennials, 76-77% of Gen X, and 70-74% of Boomers were at least somewhat open to trying cultivated meat. 

Led by Keri Szejda, the researchers surveyed a large, representative sample of 2,018 US and 2,034 UK consumers, assessing indicators of adoption among the general population, and by generational segments.

The majority of consumers surveyed were not familiar with cultivated meat, yet upon being presented with a description of the innovation, the respondents, on average, imagined that cultivated meat could make up about 40% of their future meat intake, with conventional meat constituting around 60%. 

Lab-grown meat on the market includes companies like Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms. They differ from meat alternative companies such as and which use plant proteins such as peas, to make vegetable-based meats that taste like meat. 

Honing in on the findings of the survey, which segmented the participants by age and by degree of enthusiasm, 40% of consumers were “very” or “extremely likely” to try cultivated meat in both the US and the UK. This group of enthusiastic triers was categorized as the “early majority” group. Of the early majority group, an overwhelming 98-99% of them said they would consider welcoming it as a regular item in their shopping basket.

The vast majority of the early majority are omnivores (94-95%) who consume meat 2-3 times per day in a typical week.

“In order to turn this expected acceptance into actual consumption patterns over time, it is critical to develop the right products, based on the right solutions,” says Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms, which commissioned the research.

“In the long term, Aleph Farms‘ vision is to provide a better alternative to industrial livestock farming, which represents approximately 70% of global meat production today.”

Younger generations — the early adopters

“The results suggest that cultivated meat is likely to be widely accepted by the general public, especially the younger generations and an eager group of early adopters who appreciate its benefits across a wide range of social issues.

These groups tend to embrace change and need little encouragement to try new food innovations,” notes Szejda, Ph.D., Founder and Principal Research Scientist of North Mountain Consulting Group. “Additionally, we observed an increase in support for the technology once consumers had access to additional information, underscoring the importance of effective science communication for consumer adoption.” 

Sociodemographic analyses comparing the early majority groups to the general population suggest that the early majority are more often younger (Gen Z or Millennials), male, more liberal, and more educated. In the US and the UK, an average of 77% of Gen X and 74% of Boomers were open to trying it, in comparison to 85% of Millennials, and 89% of Gen Z.

“In contrast to the younger eager adopters, the older generations are more wary of change,” explains Toubia. “Social proof is important to them and they want to be assured that a product is safe, functional, and beneficial before they adopt it. This is why transparency and trust are cornerstones of our company,” concludes Toubia.

There are also great ways to substitute fruit and vegetables for meat while bypassing the laboratories. 

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