Lab-grown steaks could soon be on British menus

• The steaks are grown from a single batch of cells taken from a cow in California.
• Israeli company Aleph Farms takes about four weeks to grow each piece of meat

British restaurants could be one step closer to including sizzling lab-grown steaks on their menus.

Israeli The firm Aleph Farms is believed to have become the first to apply for regulatory approval from the UK Food Standards Agency.

Each piece of meat, which takes about four weeks to grow, is grown from a single batch of cells taken from a cow in California.

Although it takes two years on average to gain approval, the company plans to start production in the UK in the next few years.

It’s been a decade since the world’s first cultured beef burger. – created from cells taken from an animal and grown in a laboratory – was unveiled for the first time.

But while the technology has advanced, the industry is still hampered in its fight to gain regulatory approval.

American start-up GOOD Meat became the world’s first company to sell lab-grown chicken after it was given the go-ahead in Singapore in 2020.

However, it took another three years before he could introduce it to the company’s home country in June.

There is still no lab-grown meat available in the UK, and industry figures warn that strict regulation is proving the biggest hurdle.

British investment in the industry has skyrocketed in recent years, with the market expected to account for almost a quarter of global meat consumption by 2035.

Aleph’s first cut, the ‘Petit Steak’, was taken from a premium Black Angus cow named Lucy, who was raised in California.

All the technology needs is a single harvest of the cow’s fertilized eggs to produce what it claims are “high-quality, flavorful and nutritious” steaks.

The steaks take around four weeks to grow, and once at scale, the company expects to grow thousands of tons of steaks from this single collection of cells.

Didier Toubia, chief executive of Aleph, said: “We think the UK will take a couple of years, but the potential is huge.”

Aleph plans to start production in the UK in the next few years and is in discussions with potential business partners, he said.

It’s unlikely to be sooner though, as the FSA said most product applications took on average around two years to complete.

The firm filed an application with the FSA on July 21, shortly after it also filed one in Switzerland, the first such filing in Europe.

Since Brexit, Britain has begun to review the way it authorizes novelty foods, products that have not previously been consumed by humans.

The European Union regime has been criticized for being too complex and lacking in transparency.

More than £2 billion has been invested in the industry since Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the first cultured meat burger on live TV in 2013.

A recent study suggested that lab-grown meat could reduce climate emissions by up to 92% compared to conventional beef.

More than 150 companies on 6 continents are trying to develop their own version, with around 50 percent based in Europe.

Investment in the UK soared by 400 per cent last year, making Britain the number one nation in Europe for funding technology.