Culture, meat, and cultured meat

Abstract

Cultured meat grown in vitro from animal cells has the potential to address many of the ethical, environmental, and public health issues associated with conventional meat production. However, as well as overcoming technical challenges to producing cultured meat, producers and advocates of the technology must consider a range of social issues, including consumer appeal and acceptance, media coverage, religious status, regulation, and potential economic impacts. Whilst much has been written on the prospects for consumer appeal and acceptance of cultured meat, less consideration has been given to the other aspects of the social world that will interact with this new technology. Here, each of these issues is considered in turn, forming a view of cultured meat as a technology with a diverse set of societal considerations and far-reaching social implications. It is argued that the potential gains from a transition to cultured meat are vast, but that cultural phenomena and institutions must be navigated carefully for this nascent industry to meet its potential.

Full text

Journal of Animal Science, 2020, Vol. 98, No. 8, 1–7
doi:10.1093/jas/skaa172
Advance Access publication August 3, 2020
Received: 29 November 2019 and Accepted: 15 May 2020
Board Invited Review
Copyedited by: oup
1
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
  
Culture, meat, and culturedmeat
ChristopherJ. Bryant1
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
1Corresponding author: C.J.Bryant@bath.ac.uk
Abstract
Cultured meat grown in vitro from animal cells has the potential to address many of the ethical, environmental, and
public health issues associated with conventional meat production. However, as well as overcoming technical challenges
to producing cultured meat, producers and advocates of the technology must consider a range of social issues, including
consumer appeal and acceptance, media coverage, religious status, regulation, and potential economic impacts. Whilst
much has been written on the prospects for consumer appeal and acceptance of cultured meat, less consideration has
been given to the other aspects of the social world that will interact with this new technology. Here, each of these issues
is considered in turn, forming a view of cultured meat as a technology with a diverse set of societal considerations and
far-reaching social implications. It is argued that the potential gains from a transition to cultured meat are vast, but that
cultural phenomena and institutions must be navigated carefully for this nascent industry to meet its potential.
Key words: cultured meat, food technology, meat alternatives, regulation, religion, social institutions
Introduction
Our current meat production system is resource-intensive, has
negative environmental impacts, entails animal suffering, and
is linked to a number of public health issues, including animal-
transmitted pandemics and antibiotic resistance (Mathew etal.,
2007; Oliver et al., 2011; Lymbery and Oakshotte, 2014; IPCC,
2018). Yet, global demand for meat is forecast to increase rapidly
as the world population grows (McLeod, 2011).
One proposed solution to decrease our consumption of
meat from animals is the development and utilization of
cultured meat, which can be grown from animal cells without
animal slaughter (Post, 2012). In addition to eliminating the
need for animal slaughter, cultured meat is associated with
far less harm to the environment in terms of greenhouse gas
emissions and land and water use (Tuomisto, 2019). Cultured
meat could become available commercially within a few years
(Lucas, 2019).
Recent years have seen a proliferation of research on
consumer acceptance of cultured meat (Bryant and Barnett,
2018, 2019; van der Weele and Driessen, 2019; Wilks etal., 2019).
However, Stephens et al. (2018) have argued that the social
discourse around cultured meat must move beyond narrow
conceptions of consumer acceptance and consider broader
societal issues. Therefore, this article will consider a range of
important cultural phenomena and institutions that will interact
with cultured meat: media coverage, religions, regulations, and
economic impacts.
Media Coverage
The media is an important source of information to the public
and likely plays a crucial role in shaping public perceptions
of food technologies (Frewer et al., 1995). Indeed, there is
some evidence that media coverage of cultured meat shapes
public opinion by highlighting certain aspects of the concept
(Laestadius and Caldwell, 2015).
Much of the early media coverage of cultured meat in
the United States and Europe has been neutral or positive,
frequently discussing the challenges with conventional animal
agriculture and the relative benets of cultured meat in terms

2 | Journal of Animal Science, 2020, Vol. 98, No. 8
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of animal welfare, the environment, food security, and human
health (Goodwin and Shoulders, 2013). This positive coverage
is likely due, in part, to the sources of information used; these
included New Harvest, People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, cultured meat researchers, and academics (Goodwin
and Shoulders, 2013).
This may partially explain the more positive attitudes of
those who are more familiar with the concept because they
presumably become familiar through the media. Bekker
etal. (2017) found that positive or negative information about
cultured meat shifted individuals’ opinions in that direction,
but that those who were already familiar with the concept were
less inuenced by the information. Therefore, this early positive
coverage is certainly a good thing for cultured meat, because
resulting positive attitudes will be likely toendure.
However, there are certainly aspects of the technology that
invite unattering media coverage. In an analysis of Australian
print media, Dilworth and McGregor (2015) found that
unnaturalness was the most commonly discussed theme. The
authors speculate that stakeholders such as farming lobbies
could capitalize on this narrative to undermine consumer
acceptance, commenting that “embodied responses based
on deeply entrenched ideas of food and nature are not easily
overcome” (p. 103). Further, the authors identify a number of
less common narratives that generally frame cultured meat
in a negative way: that increasing reliance on technological
solutions undermines the process of genuine social change,
that meat production is a way of connecting with nature, and
that continuing to instrumentalize animals in a way that simply
sidesteps the issues may undermine the animal liberation
movement. Hopkins and Dacey (2008) have discussed each of
these arguments and concluded that they are not valid reasons
to oppose culturedmeat.
Interestingly, Hopkins (2015) demonstrated that media
coverage of cultured meat has given undue focus to vegetarians’
opinions of cultured meat. This is despite their lower propensity
to want to eat it compared with meat-eaters (Wilks and
Phillips, 2017; Bryant etal., 2019), although they are more likely
to recognize its benets for animals and the environment
(Wilks and Phillips, 2017). One could argue that, with the aim
of reducing animal product consumption, it is unimportant
whether vegetarians would eat cultured meat—indeed, the
idea that cultured meat is “for vegetarians” could undermine its
appeal to meat-eaters.
Bryant and Dillard (2019) demonstrate how different
frames one might encounter in media coverage of cultured
meat can affect consumer perceptions. The researchers found
that those who saw a frame that emphasized the “high tech”
elements of cultured meat were signicantly less likely to
want to eat it compared with those who saw frames that
emphasized the societal benets of cultured meat, or its
sensory similarity to conventional meat. At this stage, it is
likely that most of the coverage of cultured meat will frame
it primarily as scientic discovery. This is because news
on the topic is likely to relate to new advancements in the
technology, and media coverage of conceptually similar food
technologies has been primarily event-driven (Marks etal.,
2003; Botelho and Kurtz, 2008).
Religion
The religious status of cultured meat is an issue that has
received attention in various religious communities and has
been one strand of the wider cultural debate (Hopkins, 2015).
Notably, this is an issue for the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, 1.1
billion Hindus, half a billion Buddhists, and over 10 million Jews
(Hackett and McClendon, 2017). Comprising almost half of the
global population, these people all follow religions with specic
rules and customs around meat consumption.
Survey data from nationally representative samples of
3,030 people in the United States, India, and China (Bryant
etal., 2019) contain data from Jews (n= 23), Muslims (n=193),
Hindus (n = 730), and Buddhists (n = 139) on which cultured
meat products they would be willing to eat. This can give some
empirical insight into the views of adherents to these various
religions. Respondents in this study were given the following
description of “clean meat”:
One food innovation is called clean meat. This type of meat
is identical at the cellular level to conventional meat. This
is real meat grown directly from animal cells. Clean meat is
produced in a clean facility, similar to a brewery. The process
does not involve raising and slaughtering farm animals. The
nal product has an identical taste and texture to conventional
meat. Clean meat offers signicant benets for human health,
the environment, and animal welfare. Several companies have
already successfully produced and taste-tested clean meat. The
products will be available for retail purchase in 1 to 5 yr.
Judaism
In Judaism, most rabbis agree that cultured meat itself is kosher,
though some say the cells must come from a kosher-slaughtered
animal (Bleich, 2013; Kenigsberg and Zivotofsky, 2020). Indeed,
the rabbi who will ultimately decide whether cultured meat is
kosher via the Orthodox Union’s kosher certication scheme,
the largest in the world (Fischer, 2016), appears enthusiastic
about the concept (Purdy, 2018). However, there are interesting
questions about whether cultured meat could allow kosher-
observing Jews to consume otherwise prohibitedfoods.
The rst question is whether cultured meat consumed with
dairy would be kosher. The second is whether cultured pork
would be kosher. Both rest on the question of whether cultured
meat is considered to be meat in a religious sense, or is pareve,
meaning it is considered to be something other than meat
or dairy (Sokol, 2013; McDonald, 2018). For a more complete
discussion of the kosher status of cultured meat, see Kenigsberg
and Zivotofsky (2020).
Amongst the 23 Jewish people in Bryant etal.’s (2019) survey
data, 61% said they currently ate pork, and 61% said they would
Abbreviations
EFSA European Food Safety Authority
FDA Food and Drug Administration
USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture
Table 1. Percentage of Jews who eat/would eat each species of meat
(data from Bryant et al., 2019)
Judaism (n=23)
Currently
eat, %
Find cultured
meat appealing, % Difference, %
Beef 87.0 69.6 −17.4
Poultry 91.3 69.6 −21.7
Pork 60.9 60.9 0
Lamb/Goat 65.2 60.9 −4.3

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Bryant | 3
eat cultured pork. This was slightly lower than the proportion
who would eat cultured beef (70%) or chicken (70%), but still
a majority. Notably, pork was the only meat for which there
was no overall preference for conventional meat—for all other
species, fewer respondents said they would eat cultured meat
than currently ate conventional meat. Our data did not allow us
to interpret whether participants would eat cultured meat and
dairy together.
Islam
In Islam, the relevant question is whether cultured meat is
halal. Hamdan etal. (2018) argue that, based on Quran scripture
and interpretation by prominent Islamic jurists, cultured meat
is halal if the cells used are from a halal-slaughtered animal
and no blood or animal-based serum is used in the production
process. However, since the origin of the cells is central to the
halal status of cultured meat, halal meat from pigs and other
haram species is unlikely to be approved (Purdy, 2018).
Indeed, survey data appear to conrm this: of 193 Muslims,
58% would eat cultured beef, 68% would eat cultured lamb or
goat meat, and 49% would eat cultured chicken, but only 28%
would eat cultured pork (Bryant etal., 2019).
As in Judaism, a signicant proportion of adherents to Islam
indicated that they do eat conventional pork, despite this
being prohibited in the religion. This highlights the fact that
many people of all different religions do not strictly follow the
prescribed dietary guidelines (Rarick etal., 2011).
Hinduism
Many Hindus interpret ahimsā, the principle of nonviolence, as
requiring vegetarianism, although this is not explicit in Hindu
texts (Dudek, 2013). The focus on nonviolence means that
vegetarian Hindus are likely to see cultured meat as a way of
avoiding harming animals, and some may decide it is permissible
to eat. Some have suggested that cultured beef is unlikely to
be accepted in Hinduism because cows are considered sacred
(Mattick etal., 2015).
Again, survey data appear to conrm this. Of 730 Hindus in the
dataset, 65% would eat cultured goat and 68% would eat cultured
chicken, but only 20% would eat cultured pork and 19% would
eat cultured beef (Bryant etal., 2019). Interestingly, Hindus were
the only religious group who were overall more willing to eat
cultured meat than conventional meat for all relevant species,
perhaps highlighting the motivation to avoid harming animals.
Notably, just 24% of the Hindus in this dataset were vegetarian,
again marking a departure from the diets we might expect in
this religious group.
Buddhism
Less has been written about the permissibility of cultured meat
in Buddhism. Though many practicing Buddhist monks refrain
from eating meat, only 1.4% of those identifying as Buddhist
(most of whom were in China) were vegetarian or vegan in this
data (Bryant etal., 2019). That said, 81% would eat cultured beef,
73% would eat cultured pork, 66% would eat cultured goat, and
61% would eat cultured chicken.
Overall, we observe a majority of religious consumers being
open to eating cultured meat in principle, with some evidence
of avoidance of cultured meat from species that are not allowed
in the religion (e.g., pork in Islam and beef in Hinduism). That
said, a sizable portion of respondents in all religions appeared
not to adhere strictly to the diets prescribed by their religion,
meaning that many nominally religious people are unlikely to
be sensitive to religious rulings on the permissibility of cultured
meat per se.
Regulation
Recent years have seen increasing clarity over the regulatory
frameworks for marketing cultured meat in the European Union
and the United States. However, some important issues are yet
to be addressed. Acentral issue in both markets is whether
cultured meat will be consideredmeat.
EuropeanUnion
In Europe, cultured meat will likely require approval from the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) under the Novel Foods
Regulation (EU) No (2015/2283) (Merten-Lentz, 2018; Froggart
and Wellesley, 2019; Verzijden, 2019). This regulation is primarily
designed to ensure that new foods are safe to consume, labeled
properly so as not to mislead consumers, and not nutritionally
disadvantageous compared with existing food they seek to
replace (European Commission, n.d.). It is not yet clear what
type of nutritional and toxicological evidence EFSA would
require to approve cultured meat. Moreover, since there is no
pre-market consultation process, it is likely that producers in
Table 3. Percentage of Hindus who eat/would eat each species of
meat (data from Bryant et al., 2019)
Hinduism (n=730)
Currently eat, %
Find cultured
meat appealing, % Difference, %
Beef 18.2 18.9 +0.7
Poultry 67.5 68.1 +0.6
Pork 18.5 19.6 +1.1
Lamb/Goat 61.4 64.4 +3.0
Table 2. Percentage of Muslims who eat/would eat each species of
meat (data from Bryant et al., 2019)
Islam (n=193)
Currently
eat, %
Find cultured
meat appealing, % Difference, %
Beef 64.8 57.5 −7.3
Poultry 74.6 48.7 −25.9
Pork 30.1 27.5 −2.6
Lamb/Goat 81.3 67.9 −13.4
Table 4. Percentage of Buddhists who eat/would eat each species of
meat (data from Bryant et al., 2019)
Buddhism (n=139)
Currently eat, %
Find cultured
meat appealing, % Difference, %
Beef 87.8 81.3 −6.5
Poultry 82.0 61.2 −20.8
Pork 81.3 73.4 −7.9
Lamb/Goat 69.8 65.5 −4.5

4 | Journal of Animal Science, 2020, Vol. 98, No. 8
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Europe will have to “learn by doing” through EFSA applications
(Verzijden, 2019).
As Froggart and Wellesley (2019) have argued, it is likely
that cultured meat products will be required to carry a name
or label that clearly species the production process. The Food
Information to Consumers Regulation (2011/1169) requires
that food labeling is clear, precise, and easily understandable
(European Commission, 2016). Newly approved novel foods,
meanwhile, may be subject to further labeling requirements
under the Novel Foods Regulation (Froggart and Wellesley, 2019).
Additionally, there are some questions about whether
cultured meat will be able to be marketed as meat (Froggart and
Wellesley, 2019). The Food Information to Consumers Regulation
currently denes meat as “skeletal muscles of mammalian and
bird species recognized as t for human consumption with
naturally included or adherent tissues.” Skeletal muscle, in turn,
is dened as “muscles under the voluntary control of the somatic
nervous system.” (European Commission, 2016). The current
denition, therefore, would seem to exclude culturedmeat.
If cultured meat products contain ingredients that are
genetically modied, they will instead be subject to Regulation
(EC) No 1829/2003 on genetically modied food and feed
(Froggart and Wellesley, 2019). Decisions taken under this
regulation are based on risk assessments as well as public
acceptance and economic considerations. In practice, cultured
meat products with a genetically modied component are less
likely to be permitted in Europe, given heavy restrictions on
genetically modied foods already in place and generally poor
public perceptions of the technology (Eurobarometer, 2010).
Whilst cultured meat would be approved at the level of the
European Union, it is likely that any required inspections and
enforcement would be carried out by member states (Verzijden,
2019). European producers, therefore, need to be aware of both
European and national legislation.
UnitedStates
There is somewhat less clarity around the regulatory framework
in the United States. Verzijden (2019) has identied some
of the major differences from the EU as being the presence
of a pre-market consultation mechanism, consistency in
the bodies regulating and enforcing the regulation, and the
shared jurisdiction of cultured meat regulation between the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). At present, it seems that the FDA will
regulate the pre-harvest production process and materials,
and the USDA will regulate post-harvest processes including
monitoring and labeling. However, as Verzijden (2019) points
out, the existing agreement between these bodies is not binding,
and the situation may, therefore, change. Moreover, individual
states may have additional regulations.
Cultured meat may fall outside of the Federal Meat Inspection
Act’s denition of meat, which denes meat as coming from an
animal carcass (Sanchez, 2018). While this was thought to be
determinative of which agency should have jurisdiction over
cultured meat regulation, it appears that this is no longer the
case. However, this is still a relevant issue for the question of
whether cultured meat will be allowed to be marketed asmeat.
In both the United States and the EU, cultured meat may not
be dened as “meat” under existing regulations. However, it is
possible that such denitions will be revised to include cultured
meat, especially given the presence of health and allergy
concerns (Simon, 2018). Although meat allergy is rare in adults,
a signicant portion of potential consumers could have allergic
reactions to eating meat, especially beef and poultry (Restani
etal., 2009; one particularly common form of red meat allergy
is an alpha-gal syndrome. This is caused by an immune system
reaction to a sugar molecule that can enter the blood through
tick bites (Mayo Clinic, 2019). It may be possible for cultured meat
to be engineered to exclude alpha-gal, thus making products
appropriate for alpha-gal syndrome sufferers, but further
research on this is needed) Since cultured meat is meat on a
molecular level, it is extremely likely that those who are allergic
to certain types of meat will also be allergic to cultured meat.
Labeling that fails to adequately describe a product could lead
to serious health risks for consumers (Watson, 2018). However,
there are increasing attempts from meat industry incumbents
to prohibit the term “meat” from being used in the labeling of
cultured meat products (Flynn, 2019).
EconomicImpacts
One area worthy of further discussion is the potential economic
impacts that cultured meat will have. There are concerns around
the impact of cultured meat on animal farmers, the potential for
the consolidation of food production under large corporations,
and concerns about how the relative price of cultured meat
could impact inequality (Bonny etal., 2015; Stephens etal., 2018).
Agricultural employment
Concerns about the impact of cultured meat on animal
farmers are evident in various legislative attempts to restrict
cultured meat (Flynn, 2019). Indeed, cultured meat and related
technologies may eventually replace livestock farming (Phillips
and Wilks, 2019). Whilst just 4.4% of EU employment is in
agriculture (Eurostat, 2017), this percentage is much higher in
less developed parts of the world (Roser, 2019). Moreover, many
of those who work in agriculture are concentrated in rural areas
where the economy is largely dependent on agriculture (Kurrer
and Lawrie, 2018).
Whilst cultured meat production will no doubt create new
jobs, these would require an entirely different set of skills to
current agricultural workers, who tend to have a lower level
of education than the general population (Eurostat, 2017).
Bonny etal. (2015) have argued that animal farmers may end
up providing a small and premium niche of the overall meat
market. They may respond by adopting agroecology concepts to
improve sustainability and/or adopting biotechnologies such as
cloning and genetic modication. Alternatively, they may switch
to producing crops for human consumption or biofuels (Kurrer
and Lawrie, 2018).
Nonetheless, it is likely that a signicant shift toward
cultured meat production and away from conventional animal
agriculture will mean that many people currently employed in
animal agriculture lose their jobs. This is, of course, a problem
for these individuals. However, it is self-evidently untenable in
the long run to insist that all of the existing jobs in any given
sector must continue toexist.
There are countless examples throughout the history of jobs
that technology rendered obsolete. Most notably, the Luddites
of the textile industry in England in the 19th century destroyed
machinery to protest against the job losses the technology
created. Likewise, a “knocker-upper” was someone who was
employed to knock on workers’ windows to wake them up
before alarm clocks were widespread. There is no doubt that
the individuals in these occupations would have been worse off
without those jobs—but does anybody today think that society
would be better off if textile machinery or alarm clocks had
been banned to save them? One could, of course, create many
more jobs in farming tomorrow by banning combine harvesters.

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Bryant | 5
Deliberately pursuing less efcient production in order to create
or preserve jobs in a free market is neither sustainable nor
desirable.
This point is perhaps best illustrated by an allegory about
an economist visiting a country with a planned economy. On
visiting a construction site, the economist noticed that the
project had employed hundreds of workers with shovels instead
of using any modern machinery or equipment. He asked why
there were no machines, and the foreman told him that this way,
more jobs were created. The economist responded that if the
objective was to create jobs rather than nish the construction
project, they should take away the workers’ shovels and have
many more workers with teaspoons instead (Tanner, 2015).
Consolidating food production
Others have expressed concerns about the consolidation
of food production under a smaller number of actors with
greater capital (Driessen and Korthals, 2012; Hocquette, 2016).
Indeed, consolidation in the food industry, in general, could
result in oligopolies exerting pressure on suppliers, limiting
consumer choice, and driving industrialization (Heinrich Böll
Stiftung, 2017). Perhaps more pertinently still, cultured meat
production may only be feasible in countries with sturdy energy
infrastructure and a highly educated workforce. This has led
Hocquette (2016) and Stephens et al. (2018) to speculate that
cultured meat could exacerbate economic inequality between
countries, as well aswithin.
However, it is not yet clear what shape the cultured meat
industry will take. As with many of the social questions, this
is dependent on as-yet-unknown aspects of the technology:
for instance, van der Weele and Driessen (2013) offer the
alternative “pig-in-the-backyard” vision where the technology
is democratized and communities can produce their own meat
from locally kept animals. In any case, the production of cultured
meat will require the production of inputs for culture media,
and it is possible that these inputs could still be produced in
existing agricultural systems.
Consumer inequality
Finally, some have worried that cultured meat may exacerbate
inequalities between the rich and the poor (Cole and Morgan,
2013; Bonny et al., 2015; Stephens et al., 2018). Bonny et al.
(2015) have speculated that cultured meat could feed the
masses cheaply, leaving real meat the preserve of the wealthy.
Conversely, Cole and Morgan (2013) have worried that cultured
meat, being substantially more expensive than conventional
meat, would allow the wealthy to eat meat without moral
consequence, leaving only the poor reduced to killing animals
for theirfood.
Interestingly, the economics of cultured meat production
means that both of these visions may hold some truth. Whilst
the cost of producing cultured meat has fallen rapidly in
recent years, it is likely that it will still be more expensive than
its conventional counterpart when it rst comes to market
(González and Koltrowitz, 2019). Some commentators believe
it will rst be available at a premium price in restaurants only
(Purdy, 2019). During this stage, cultured meat may be seen as a
luxury or novelty only available to the rich or those with access
to exclusive outlets. Given these conditions, consuming cultured
meat could convey wealth andstatus.
However, in the longer term, cultured meat will become
cheaper to produce and could be cheaper than conventional
meat if it is made more efciently (Fountain, 2013). At this time,
any prestige associated with cultured meat consumption will
likely be diminished as it becomes commonplace. Indeed, we
have seen the same process play out with other foods: salt, now
ubiquitous and even maligned, was once so valuable that it was
used to pay soldiers (Salt Association, n.d.).
The cost of producing cultured meat is likely to be relatively
high initially but decreases over time. This will likely mean that it
is, at rst, only available to afuent consumers, but may become
increasingly common as the price falls. The price of cultured
meat production falling below the price of conventional meat
production may represent a tipping point for meat production
worldwide.
Conclusion
Cultured meat is a technology with the potential to alleviate the
ethical, environmental, and public health concerns associated
with conventional meat production, including greenhouse gas
emissions, land and water use, antibiotic resistance, food-borne
and zoonotic diseases, and animal slaughter. However, beyond
overcoming technical challenges in perfecting and scaling up
the production process, producers and advocates of cultured
meat must consider their relation to a range of social and
cultural phenomena and institutions.
These two sets of challenges are inextricably linked
because many of the uncertainties around regulation, religious
classication, and economic impacts relate to specic elements
of the production process that are unknown or proprietary.
For example, the use of animal serum has implications for the
halal status of cultured meat, while the scalability of production
processes has implications for the shape of the cultured meat
industry.
With respect to regulation and religious dietary restrictions,
one can easily lose sight of the original objectives. For example,
the European Union’s Novel Food Regulation has ensuring food
safety as a central objective, yet related legislation might mean
cultured meat cannot be labeled as meat, putting consumers
with allergies at risk. Similarly, the halal slaughter was originally
conceived based on the principle of reducing animal suffering
(Withnall, 2014), yet, it may now require animals used in cultured
meat production to be killed for their meat to be permissible in
Islam (Hamdan etal., 2018). One must hope that the spirit of the
law will prevail over the letter of the law in thesecases.
Cultured meat producers face a range of technical challenges,
and many of these are upstream from social challenges. It is
important to consider how cultured meat might interact with
these important cultural forces, and in some cases production
decisions can be made to optimize outcomes with regard to
the societal issues discussed here. Careful navigation of these
challenges can ensure that cultured meat can fulll its potential
to alleviate animal suffering and environmental degradation.
Acknowledgments
PhD funding from the Economic and Social Research Council
(grant no. ES/J50015X/1).
Conict of interest statement
The author is the Director of Social Science at the Cellular
Agriculture Society, a nonprot aiming to accelerate the
commercialization of products produced through cellular
agriculture including cultured meat.

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