Norway moves beyond animal-based cultivated meat

Norway is going all in on cultivated meat technology, with the Research Council of Norway funding a project to produce animal products and proteins in a lab.

Hosted at Nofima, it is called ARRIVAL (short for ARRIVAL of Cellular Agriculture-Enabling biotechnology for Future Food Production). The goal of the project is to develop cell-based agriculture to be used as a source of food and ingredients. This refers to the growing of these products without the use and slaughter of animals, but instead the use of cellular technology and processes.

The researchers also seek to understand the technological and societal possibilities and problems brought about when this method is used to produce food, and its ethical implications.

ARRIVAL complements an already-running research program called Precision, which is using advanced biotechnology, smart sensors and data analytical tools to help with the production of food.

“In simple terms, there are two types of cell-based agriculture: lab-cultivated meat and precision fermentation. In the ARRIVAL project, we will use both methods to produce milk, eggs and meat proteins,” said Sissel Beate Rønning, the leader of the project.

“We will continue our research on how to scale up cell-based meat production and find out more about which materials are suitable to use as a framework for the muscle cells. We have already conducted some ‘framework trials’ and have achieved promising results using eggshell membranes.

“Cell-based agriculture is a revolution in food production that can change agricultural production and ownership, land use, policy design, eating habits and ethical issues. In the ARRIVAL project, we will take the research on cell-based agriculture several steps further.

The project will involve cultivating meat in labs to understand how to coax muscle cells in a lab to develop into a steak or fillet in a sustainable way. Since 2018 the researchers have been working to find a suitable growth medium to achieve this. Residual biomass from chicken, slaughter blood, eggshell membranes and egg white are all looking like promising suggestions so far.

The scientists also want to address public scepticism of these sorts of projects and are hopeful that they will be readily accepted in time, thanks to their benefits.

“We want to implement new protein sources into existing food products and prepare society, consumers and the food industry for the possible consequences of this radical shift in the way food is made.

“This type of food production can take place anywhere, pressure on arable land decreases, surplus material such as residual biomass and excess heat from other industries can be utilised and Norwegian industry can be developed in yet another new direction.

“We can increase self-sufficiency in food in Norway, and we do not have to kill animals to produce the necessary protein in the form of meat.”

The project will run from 2023 until 2025.

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