The lab-cultured meat product, which was described as 'truly sustainable and humane' by its creators, was made without the use of Fetal Bovine Serum

The first product will be a treat for cats made from cultured mouse meat (Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

A Canadian tech startup will be debuting lab cultured companion animal food early next year.

Because Animals Inc's first product will be a cat treat made from mice. It says the meat will be cultured, without slaughtering any animals. Clean Meat is not a vegan product as it uses animal cells, though some vegans support it because of its potential to reduce animal slaughter.

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The startup says it is motivated by creating lab-grown meat because it is 'more humane for farmed animals'. In addition, it says the food will be safer for companion animals. Every year the Food and Drug Administration issues pet food recalls due to chemical and bacterial contamination - associated with factory farming and the use of meat from dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals. This is not an issue with lab cultivated meat.

Fetal Bovine Serum

Fetal Bovine Serum, or FBS, which is controversial as it comes from the blood of a bovine fetus is used to create some lab meat. According to Because Animals Inc, it does not use this ingredient in its products.

The company says it has 'developed a proprietary media that provides the nutrients and growth factors needed for mouse tissue to grow, all without the requirement of FBS'.

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Clean meat companion animal food

"What makes this clean meat extra special is that we've grown it without any animal ingredients," Dr. Shannon Falconer, Chief Executive Officer of Because Animals, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.

"At the moment, the standard in the clean meat industry is to grow tissue using serum from another animal – usually fetal bovine serum.

"Because Animals is changing that by creating ultra-nutritious foods that provide all the nutritional benefits of traditional animal protein but with animal-free ingredients that protect pets, people and our planet."