We’ve been hearing a lot about Beef substitutes that have been cultivated in the lab from a few sample cells of the original animal. Now there’s a company that’s working on doing the same thing with Chicken, and it appears their product will be even easier to make and bring to market…
Which came first? At JUST Inc., it was definitely the Eggs, or Eggless Eggs, to be precise.
Lab cultured Chicken Protein will be in test markets by the end of this year.
JUST Inc. (formerly Hampton Creek Foods) revealed its ‘Eggless Egg’ product to consumers late last year. A thick yellow liquid made from Mung Beans, JUST Scramble looks and cooks up like Eggs, and those who’ve tried it say it tastes like real Eggs. It even comes pre-cooked in patties (which should make you think of the Breakfast Sandwiches on a Bun that almost every Fast Food joint now offers).
Before JUST Scramble, the company pioneered Vegan Mayo and Mustard, and Vegan Cookies and Cookie Dough. Now, it’s branching out into lab-cultured proteins, and its first offering is ‘Chickenless’ Chicken.
What they’re doing…
JUST has perfected a way to grow Chicken Protein from superfluous Chicken cells – what their Head of Comms, Andrew Noyes, calls a ‘small, harmless biopsy’ – so that no animal is harmed in the process. They claim they can grow enough ‘Chicken’ from a small starter sample of cells to make a Chicken Nugget in just a couple of days. That certainly beats current Beef Protein products, which take much longer to ‘mature’.
The product will be similar (or so it sounds) to the much maligned Pink Slime – mechanically de-boned Chicken Protein – which is still being used by some to make Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Burger Patties. But, at least, it won’t require the slaughter of millions of Chickens, and we’ll know exactly what’s in it.
JUST also says it will be ready to start selling its Chicken product by the end of the year. Their closest competitor, Memphis Meats, has been in the business of developing cultured Meat Protein longer, but, at last check, didn’t plan to have a Chicken product ready for market until 2021.
Still needs regulatory certification
The Chicken product still needs food safety certification certification before it can be mass marketed. But the USDA and the FDA are still working on finalizing their official guidelines for the new, cultured Meat products. So, the planned year-end launch could come here in Canada, or in Europe.
We’ll keep you posted…
~ Maggie J.