History will recall that the first serving of artificial meat took the form of chicken "nuggets", a product regularly criticized for its long and obscure list of mysterious ingredients.

It was in a posh Singaporean restaurant, the 1880, that artificial meat, made in the laboratory from in particular chicken cells, was served for the first time, Saturday, December 19.

The establishment served this laboratory meat to young people aged 14 to 18, invited for this launch because of their "commitment to building a better planet".

This historic dinner was not open to journalists due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

#Singapour 🇸🇬 authorizes the sale of artificial nuggets, a world first.



In the city-state, # chicken meat entirely prepared in the laboratory by a start-up will soon be available in shops pic.twitter.com/7jTbYrursx

- FRANCE 24 French (@ France24_fr) December 4, 2020

For the makers of this nugget like no other, the start-up Eat Just, the development of laboratory meat could help reduce the carbon footprint of meat consumption on the planet.

Singapore is the first state to allow the commercial sale of this type of artificial meat.

Serving this artificial meat is a "revolutionary step in the fight against climate change and supplying the world population without damaging the planet", says the founder of the 1880 restaurant, Marc Nicholson.

For Eat Just founder Josh Tetrick, this premiere "brings us closer to a world where the majority of the meat we'll eat won't require destroying a single forest, moving a single animal habitat, or using an animal. single drop of antibiotics.

With these chicken nuggets, made from animal cells and licensed in Singapore, the new non-farm food El Dorado becomes more and more concrete and raises many ethical, health, and environmental questions.

- Eric Andrieu (@EricAndrieuEU) December 7, 2020

Global meat consumption is expected to increase by 70% by 2050, and artificial meat may soon meet some of the demand, according to the start-up.

Intensive farming for meat consumption is a source of methane, a gas that promotes the greenhouse effect.

In some countries such as Brazil, this sector contributes to the destruction of forests, natural barriers to global warming.

The demand for alternatives to meat is growing, but the products currently available are plant-based.

Dozens of start-ups are working on artificial meat projects around the world, but production has so far remained experimental.

The very high cost of producing artificial meat is seen as a drag on its development, but, according to a spokesperson for the start-up, Eat Just has made "considerable progress" in reducing costs.

With AFP

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