Lab-grown meat firms don’t even know if their food is safe long-term: Report

Despite leading scientists generally agreeing that lab grown meat is safe to eat, no long-term studies have been conducted to reliably demonstrate this, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Lab-grown meat is often made using immortalized cell lines, which, unlike regular cells, are capable of continuously dividing and growing in a manner similar to cancer cells, according to Bloomberg. Companies developing lab-grown meats have largely remained silent about the connection between their product and cancer cells, possibly in a bid to keep consumers from getting skittish about their products.

“Although there is limited evidence to suggest that DNA from genetically engineered plant cells can integrate or be transferred into somatic cells or the microflora of the human gastrointestinal tract, due diligence would require further investigation in genetically engineered animal cells,” MIT researchers wrote in an October 2021 study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. “Confirming that future products made from immortalized animal cells expressing oncogenes, either through spontaneous immortalization or genetic engineering, would be safe represents a gap in knowledge in this field.”

While there is no evidence to suggest that these cells — which are either cultivated from cancer cells or created with genetic modification — are dangerous for human consumption, there have also been no long-term studies on the health impact of these foods, according to Bloomberg. – READ MORE