The GFI recently said that a ‘new space race for the future of food’ had begun and that regulation for cultured meat in Europe is expected to follow soon behind Singapore. Spain’s BioTech Foods today reveals a €5.2 million R&D initiative called the CULTUREDMEAT project, after receiving funding from the EU last October.
The general objective of the CULTUREDMEAT project is to investigate meat produced from cellular agriculture, with BioTech Foods from the Basque country as technological leaders, along with 7 other entities and 10 research organizations including leading animal meat manufacturers Argal and Martínez Somalo. BioTech Foods has been producing its own cell-based brand called Ethicameat since 2017, a range of cultured meat products which are high in protein, fat-free, slaughter-free and antibiotic-free.
The Spanish Ministry of Science has granted the project €3.7 million to develop cultured meat, and together with the development of healthy fats and functional ingredients, they will enable healthier meat products to be made than traditional red meat. One of the ultimate aims of the project is to reduce the rates of colon cancer and high cholesterol, two of Spain’s most fatal health problems. The total budget of the initiative will amount to €5.2 million.
“The biggest challenge for the sector at the moment is the industrial scale that allows producing sufficient volumes for commercialization. The production of cultivated meat has aroused great interest in the industry and many players are working on this meat of the future that reduces the environmental impact and protects the welfare of the animals,” said BioTech Foods about the project.
