Israel's chief rabbi declares lab-grown meat kosher
By Shani Ashkenazi and Shlomo Teitelbaum
18.01.23
In a new halachic ruling published today, Israel's chief rabbi, David Lau, stated that the cultured meat product of the Alf Farms company is kosher fur. This is to the extent that the product - produced from stem cells - will be labeled differently from meat produced by slaughter, in order to avoid an appearance that will create confusion among the public. Lau decided on the question after examining the production method in the company's laboratory and talking to many professionals. This is the most significant halachic ruling in which cultured meat is defined as kosher - with or without its definition as fur.
The Israeli Alf Farms is one of the oldest companies in the development of cultured meat in the world. To date , the company has raised 120 million dollars , and has developed steak slices cultured from animal stem cells, which have not undergone genetic engineering. Last year, Alf Farms announced the launch of a pilot production facility in Rehovot, on an area of 6,000 square meters, with an investment of NIS 40 million. These days, the company's first product (Minute Steak) is being examined by the Israeli Ministry of Health and the American regulator. When the company receives marketing approval , will be able to go to market with its products for the first time. The company hopes to launch its products for the first time in the world in Israel this year, and then in the Singapore market and the American market in the second half of next year.
The halachic question accompanies all the companies involved in the field in Israel for a long time. Although cultured meat products are in the stages of development and regulatory approvals in Israel and around the world, they are currently only sold in Singapore, and the first product is in advanced approval procedures in the US, after being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"Alf Farms" is the first in Israel to receive such a ruling from a senior halachic authority in Judaism, so that in the future it can offer its products to the public as fur products. According to the halachic examination carried out by Rabbi Lau, as long as the cultured meat is defined and marketed as "the closest vegetable product to meat", the law of the cultured meat of Alef Farms is kosher fur - as a vegetable product. If the product will be marketed as meat or meat products, and "in particular if its shape will be similar to meat in taste and smell... there is room to make it stricter and define it as kosher but not as a fur product".
The reason for defining the cultured meat as fur is the company's production method: Alf Farms produces stem cells from a fertilized egg in a laboratory, without an animal and without slaughter. The current method extracts the stem cells from a fertilized egg even before it is attached to the animal's body, therefore Rabbi Lau believes that the fertilized egg in itself is not forbidden to eat. Therefore, the product is not considered meat, and there is no need to wait for it to eat milk.
Even though Rabbi Lau serves as Israel's chief rabbi, the ruling of the rabbinate is not enough for the ultra-orthodox sector, which makes sure to consume only "strictly" kosher products. In order for this position to be adopted by strict kashruts, it will be necessary for more Halachic judges to join this position.
"Calcalist" learned that a similar position is also accepted by rabbis who are considered an authority on kosher matters in the ultra-Orthodox world, such as Rabbi Menachem Ganek, Rabbi Asher Weiss and the American Rabbi Herschel Schechter. An opinion similar to that of Lau was also received by the Tzahar Keshrut organization.
The world's cultured meat companies, as well as those in Israel, are in regulatory procedures for product approvals, mainly in the US, Singapore and Israel. While Singapore approved the marketing of cultured chicken nuggets in restaurants for the first time about two years ago, in the US the approval process for the first company reached its final stage only a few weeks ago. Nir Goldstein, director of the Gfi Institute, calls on the Israeli regulator to speed up. According to him, "These days, the major Israeli cultured meat companies are debating where to build their first plants, with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. The rabbinical approval is an important milestone on the way to the products reaching the market and wide consumer acceptance. However, the government must act urgently to remove the main barrier - Regulatory approval from the Ministry of Health. Many governments around the world are following Israeli companies, including Singapore, Denmark and the USA, so the Ministry of Economy and Finance must act immediately to provide economic benefits that will allow companies to develop their production activities in Israel."
Source: https://www.calcalist.co.il/shopping/article/syfryirss