Does the Absence of Slaughter in Lab-Grown Meat Ensure its Kosher or Halal Status?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently authorized two companies, Good Meat, and Upside Foods, to manufacture and market their cultivated chicken products in the U.S. However, whether these lab-grown products are considered kosher or halal has become a religious problem.

This new breed of slaughter-free products challenges the religious norms of kosher and halal certification, which require ritualistic animal slaughtering. As it stands, neither company’s USDA-approved cultivated chicken product has attained kosher or halal certification. Both companies have signaled intent to explore these avenues, with Upside Foods seeking certification to gain a foothold in markets where these dietary regulations are prevalent.

As with most religious matters, interpretation and adherence levels yield diverse views. While some religious authorities view cellular agriculture as a game-changing technology exempt from conventional rules, others perceive it as necessitating a different form of supervision.

The notion of lab-grown meat also presents an ethical dilemma for vegetarians, especially those who refrain from consuming meat for animal welfare or environmental reasons. While not vegetarian in the traditional sense, these new meats do not involve the killing of animals. However, they are not devoid of animal exploitation entirely, with cells harvested from biopsies, fertilized eggs, or even feathers.

The situation becomes more complex when considering halal and kosher requirements specifics. For instance, under Islamic dietary law, meat must come from an animal that is halal and handled in a way that maintains its halal status. The animal’s life must be taken in a specific manner, and meat from a living animal is strictly prohibited. As a result, biopsied cells would render the resulting meat non-halal.

There might be a loophole, however. Halal law permits the use of cells from feathers or wool, both non-living animal parts, to grow meat. Thus, a lab-grown meat product using cells harvested from such sources might be acceptable under halal rules.

Read this: US Grants Approval to Country’s First ‘Lab-Grown’ Meat

The Jewish dietary law, kashrut, has its unique stipulations. For cultivated meat to be kosher, the cell must be taken from a kosher slaughtered animal or an unfertilized egg from a kosher chicken. Also, Jewish law prohibits the mixing of meat with dairy products, further complicating the matter.

These interpretations are not unanimous. For instance, Rabbi David Lau, Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi, is leaning towards classifying cultivated meat as both kosher and pareve, a category of foods not considered either meat or dairy.

Ultimately, interpreting religious texts to new technologies like lab-grown meat requires education and discussion between companies and religious authorities. This dialogue is already happening in places like Israel and Southeast Asia, in an attempt to secure kosher and halal certification for lab-grown meats.