This is a first in a series of invited blogs from FAN's laboratory Centres of Expertise. In this article, Christophe Noel from SGS's food analysis molecular biology team, discusses the likely challenges in authenticating lab-grown meat.
The Infinite Animal: Mutation, Identity, and Authentication in Lab-Grown Meat
Lab-grown meat, or cultured meat, presents a new frontier in food production. It introduces complex authentication challenges involving traceability, product integrity, and regulatory compliance.
With novelty and uncharted territory comes the need for new and emerging technological and regulatory strategies, as well as a combination of different methodological approaches to address these issues.
For example, the use of molecular and isotopic fingerprinting to distinguish lab-grown meat from conventional meat products—by analysing specific metabolic markers or isotopic ratios unique to cell culture processes—appears to be a promising option. DNA-based methods, including barcoding and genetic tracing, are also being proposed to verify cell line origins and production authenticity. Additionally, blockchain technology could offer transparent supply chain management, providing immutable records of production steps from cell culture to final product labelling, which would be extremely valuable.
Regulatory bodies are contributing by drafting frameworks that require rigorous documentation and verification at each stage of production, helping to establish standards for what legally constitutes "cultured meat."
Despite these advances, the field remains in its infancy, and ongoing research is crucial for validating these methods across different production platforms and global regulatory systems.
When considering the potential role of DNA/RNA analysis, its scope can include confirming the animal species present, detecting potential adulteration, identifying the nature of heterogeneous scaffolding, or even verifying the brand of the product if a unique genetic signature—either naturally occurring or engineered as a molecular label—is used.
An important aspect to consider in terms of authentication is the genetic stability of the product. A fundamental characteristic of cultured meat is that once cells are collected from the animal, this step is not repeated. The cell line must become immortal, ideally multiplying indefinitely and remaining genetically identical. However, cell culturing and propagation are, by nature, driving forces for potential mutations, raising the question of how we monitor these effects and their impact on the integrity of the final product.
Ultimately, an important question for authentication arises: are we destined to eat a definitive, unchanging version of one animal forever?
SGS Analytics United Kingdom Ltd is a UKAS (ISO17025) accredited analytical laboratory specialising in molecular and immunological detection of contaminants and adulterants in foodstuffs. With specific reference to authenticity testing our core area of expertise is the detection of meat, plant, fish and crustaceans using endpoint PCR; real time-PCR, PCR-sequencing and Next Generation Sequencing based technologies. FAN has more information here.
