Meatly Creates First Cultivated-meat Cat Food for the UK
Meatly, a British startup has announced an innovative achievement with the formation of cans of pet food made up of cultivated chicken. This product was developed in partnership with its brand partner Omni, a novel protein pet food brand founded by veterinarian Dr. Guy Sandelowsky. This achievement represents a milestone in Meatly’s journey as they work to become the first global provider of lab-grown meat for pets.
Meatly said that this marks a big step for them in selling lab-grown meat for pets and getting permission to sell it in both the UK and Europe. According to their website, they start with cells taken from a chicken egg. After this, they give them everything they require to cultivate avoiding any other animal products.
They nurture these cells in a controlled container that controls the temperature and acidity.
A Step Toward Moral and Sustainable Pet Food
Omni, known for its dog food crafted from pulse, yeast protein diets, and algae, is stepping into the cultivated meat market with its debut canned wet food products for cats.
By using Meatly’s cruelty-free chicken ingredient, this step represents an important change in pet food towards being kinder to animals and the environment. Companies like Omni look to offer healthier choices for pets, Meatly said in a statement.
Dr. Guy Sandelowsky at Omni said he is enthusiastic about Meatly’s ingredients. He says it can be made to be healthy for them. This means more vitamins and minerals and no antibiotics. He emphasizes its importance because there are not many other good options for cat food currently.
The company said that this is a significant moment for the pet food industry, which is expanding rapidly globally, expected to be valued at a huge amount by 2026. However, this growth hurts the environment. 22% of meat is consumed by pets in the UK which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Meatly said they are trying to resolve this problem by sustainably producing tasty and healthy meat, decreasing the need for industrial agriculture.
Meatly’s CEO, Owen Ensor, stated that as more people want pet food, the industry’s environmental impact also increases. Cultivated meat provides a simple solution — tasty, high-quality, nutritious, and eco-friendly pet food. We’re excited to work with companies like Omni to make this happen as soon as possible.
Awaiting Regulatory Clearance: Cultivated Pet Food
The company is collaborating with the UK’s Food Standards Agency and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs. They stated that any products sold in the UK will be approved by both agencies.
Once the product gets granted regulatory approval, thanks to partnerships with retailers and manufacturers like Omni, Meatly-manufactured pet food will be on store shelves across the country. Pets at Home, plans to be the initial seller of these products in its retail stores, said Ensor.
He showed his enthusiasm about this major milestone. Commercial director at Pets at Home, David Wainwright, said they are looking to be the first retailer to offer these products. He showed their commitment to driving change in the industry and finding sustainable alternatives to some of the proteins used globally in pet food.
BioCraft’s Chicken Slurry: Innovative Cat Food
BioCraft Pet Nutrition unveiled a novel chicken cell line last summer. They offer slurry for cat and dog foods. BioCraft’s founder and CEO, Shannon Falconer, Ph.D., provides various benefits including superior nutrition, scalability, and ease of use for pet food manufacturers.
Falconer stated that their goal is to provide a meat ingredient tailored to pets’ nutritional needs, potentially addressing difficulties encountered by traditional lab-grown meat.
