Lab-grown meat to be sold in dog food in the UK

[SilverLinings]

The BBC News website has an article today saying that approval has been given for dog food to contain lab-grown meat, and a company is planning to have it on sale in the UK by next year:

Lab-grown meat in pet food: UK to allow sales of Meatly product

Lab meat company Meatly says the first samples of its product will go on sale as early as this year.

www.bbc.co.uk

I can definitely see a benefit for dogs with vegan owners as the dog could go back to having a more 'natural' diet, but I don't think enough dog owners care at all where their dog food (or the meat they eat themselves) comes from to buy a substitute. I can see it being successful though if it is sold at a lower price than normal meat-containing dog food.

Would you feed it to your dogs?

 

[Equi]

I don’t have a dog but if it were my cat, no. I value farmers and I value the continuation of farming. I try to buy local and do my part for a sector that is increasingly being abandoned.

Also the conspiracy theorist in me says they could be putting anything in the “meat” and we would never know.

 

[skinnydipper]

Would you feed it to your dogs?

No

 

[palo1]

Dog food meat is ordinarily a by product/alongside product of human meat production and consumption so not utilising it in pet food would mean it may just be wasted. Unless human meat consumption drops sufficiently to make the pet food meat unsustainable, I can see very little benefit to lab meat for pets. It may be a bit of an own goal too as people may see lab grown meat as a lower status food.

 

[lizziebell]

Nope, but my dogs are raw fed (human quality meat from butchers/ supermarkets) so we don’t buy any type of commercial dog food.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Dog food meat is ordinarily a by product/alongside product of human meat production and consumption so not utilising it in pet food would mean it may just be wasted. Unless human meat consumption drops sufficiently to make the pet food meat unsustainable, I can see very little benefit to lab meat for pets. It may be a bit of an own goal too as people may see lab grown meat as a lower status food.

This, exactly!

 

[planete]

Lab grown meat must surely be the ultimate UPF? Why would anybody want to eat artificial food, or feed it to anything? I will eat insects and feed them to my dogs if needed but not lab engineered food.

 

[SkylarkAscending]

Soylent Green

(Younger HHOers will have to Google that)

 

[JBM]

I hope they have to declare if it’s lab grown? I can’t imagine that’s good for them

 

[FieldOrnaments]

It's still meat. Meat tissue/animal cells.

But it will probably be expensive, and I'd rather, if we insist on killing animals for food, that the whole carcass is used, not just the bits humans find tasty.

 

[slimjim86]

I guess it's a way for the company to upscale production and maybe get to a point where lab grown meat can be produced at a price point to make it a viable alternative to meat for everyone. When the idea of lab grown meat first came about I thought I'd go for it but now I dont want fake / real / engineered meat of any type, there's plenty of plants that can make nutritional meals. Sorry I strayed from dog food topic somewhat there.

 

[I'm Dun]

Nope, but my dogs are raw fed (human quality meat from butchers/ supermarkets) so we don’t buy any type of commercial dog food.

Same, although I do buy a grain free dog food as well. But most of their food comes from the reduced bin in the supermarket. They eat significantly better than I do!

 

[Love]

I can definitely see a benefit for dogs with vegan owners as the dog could go back to having a more 'natural' diet,

Would it even be able to be classed as vegan? (not being difficult, just genuinely curious)

 

[poiuytrewq]

Oh god, I read that in horror as "lab meat" to be used in dog food

 

[SilverLinings]

I hope they have to declare if it’s lab grown? I can’t imagine that’s good for them

The company are being quite open about it so I don't think there will beany effort to hide the source of the meat. The company actually seems tosee it as a marketing tool.

I guess it's a way for the company to upscale production and maybe get to a point where lab grown meat can be produced at a price point to make it a viable alternative to meat for everyone. When the idea of lab grown meat first came about I thought I'd go for it but now I dont want fake / real / engineered meat of any type, there's plenty of plants that can make nutritional meals. Sorry I strayed from dog food topic somewhat there.

Lab grown meat is already sold for human consumption in several other countries, but it isn't licensed for such in the UK yet so the company in this article can only sell it for animal consumption as the law stands.

Would it even be able to be classed as vegan? (not being difficult, just genuinely curious)

It's an interesting philosophical dilemma. I haven't heard any vegans promote veganism for reasons that don't relate to meat coming from a previously living animal (the same with vegetarianism), so in theory this should be fine as it's just a collection of cells. Plants are also a collection of cells, but I don't know if some vegans will feel that mammal cells are in some way ethically different. It would also depend on production methods as some vegans and vegetarians don't eat meat as they are concerned about the environmental impact (water usage, methane production etc) and I don't know what environmental effect is produced in the growing of artificial meat.

As a vegetarian (who has always fed their dogs meat) I like the idea of this, but I would want more data before I would be happy feeding it to my dogs in the future.

 

[HopOnTrot]

I think I’d prefer insect based dog food

 

[Annette4]

I personally wouldn't feed it (vegan who feeds her dogs raw) without a lot more data.

 

[twiggy2]

No i wouldnt, i find the idea of food 'grown' in a lab very worrying as it is so unatural.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would not feed it unless I was choosing between starvation for the dogs and them eating it.
That’s not because I don’t care about I or the dogs eat it’s because I care a lot .
I don’t believe in unnatural foods for people or animals .

 

[skinnydipper]

The thought of eating something grown in a lab makes me feel a bit queasy.

 

[Goldenstar]

It’s like mass produced vegan burgers / ready meals and the like if you want to be a vegan ( I don’t, I think it’s rejecting part of the very essence of what we are) eat seeds eat things that grow in the ground eat nuts etc etc don’t eat false food it’s as dangerous as ultra processed meat based crap.

 

[Titchy Reindeer]

I don't think I'd feed lab-grown meat to my dogs until there was a lot more data on it.
Mine currently eat an insect based food in an effort to reduce their (my!) carbon foot print. Monster also does a lot better on it than on his previous chicken based dogfood. My dogs and I do eat meat but I'm trying (with relatively little success) to cut back.

 

[Annette4]

It’s like mass produced vegan burgers / ready meals and the like if you want to be a vegan ( I don’t, I think it’s rejecting part of the very essence of what we are) eat seeds eat things that grow in the ground eat nuts etc etc don’t eat false food it’s as dangerous as ultra processed meat based crap.

I'd never eat on the road if I didn't eat processed food.....but I eat the same amount and type of processed food as I did before I changed my diet

 

[Glitter's fun]

Would you feed it to your dogs?

No.
I'm trying to go down the route of less processing, not more.

I'd be interested to know how it compares to animal meat in terms of health. If it's a good "likeness" is it doing the same to your body as real meat?

 

[Goldenstar]

I would say it’s way way too soon to make any judgements on the health implications good or bad of eating lab grown meat.
Remember we used to think that margarine was healthier option than butter .
The oldest food factory in the world in the one that turns sunlight into grass , that grass feeds herbivores who in turn feed others .

 

[Glitter's fun]

I would say it’s way way too soon to make any judgements on the health implications good or bad of eating lab grown meat.
Remember we used to think that margarine was healthier option than butter .

Yes, trans fats were what I was thinking of.

Take vegan ingredients, process them hugely to turn them into something that looks like "meat" just sounds like a bad idea! There are so many vegetarian & vegan traditional diets & recipes in the world ...

 

[SilverLinings]

In theory it should be the same as 'normal' meat, as it is just cells originally taken from an animal replicating themselves to form tissue. But they are fed nutrients in order to grow, and I don't know whether those nutrients are the same things that 'normal' meat would be exposed to, or if they have to use something different because the cells aren't attached to an animal. If the nutrients are the same as those in nature then is the meat likely to pose any risk?

I wouldn't distrust something just because it's been 'lab grown' (technically it's made in a factory), as after all we all give our dogs medication and things like de-wormers which were originally made in a laboratory. I suppose the difference is that we accept risks with medication because we need the benefit at the time.

I think that at the moment I would prefer to feed 'real' meat over synthesised meat, but if it came down to a choice between highly processed cheap dog food or synthesised meat then the decision would be harder, and I would possibly choose the synthesised meat.

If it turns out the two types of meat are physically identical, and the manufacture of synthesised meat didn't cause environmental damage then the only benefit I personally could see from feeding 'normal' meat would be if the meat used was waste from human food production. But I say that as a vegetarian who chooses not to eat meat because of welfare concerns.

 

[Jenko109]

I'm actually very open to the idea of it, however I would want to be able to make an informed decision and I just dont think the information I would want to know is going to be available this early on.