News Lab-grown meat hits Aussie menus – but is it really the future of food?

Australia is now the third country to have approved lab-grown meat, sparking both excitement and a lot of questions. Are these products the future of food, or simply a stepping stone toward the total food system revolution we really need?

Whether you have the finger on the pulse of the culinary scene or can’t resist clicking on a headline that seems too futuristic to be true, chances are you’ve heard that lab-grown meat, also called cell-cultured or cultivated meat, was recently approved for sale and consumption in Australia. 

(Not quite a world-first, but a world-third ain’t bad!)

Singapore made history in 2020 as the first country to give cultivated meat the green light, followed by the United States in mid-2023. As of June 2025, this next-gen food innovation is available on Australian shores too, with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) signing off on cell-cultured quail meat developed and pioneered by Sydney-based company, Vow. 

 

“The Australia and New Zealand-first approval allows the sale of cell-cultured quail and establishes new standards in the Code to provide a clear regulatory framework for future cell-cultured food applications,” said a spokesperson for FSANZ. 

Professor Paul Wood, an adjunct professor of Biotechnology at Monash University, says that the approval of Vow’s products will make it easier for other cell-cultured meat products to hit the Australian market in the coming years, which could be great news for both animals and the planet. 

For now, Vow is the country’s first (and only) company allowed to sell bioidentical lab-grown meat made without animals. Their product line includes three products made from cultured quail cells: Foie gras, whipped pate, and an edible tallow candle. (Yes, you read that right! These “new meat” products are fancy to say the least.)

With a long way to go before cell-cultured meat becomes readily available and affordable for the casual consumer, Vow says its focus is more on bringing something “deliberately different” and unexpected into the realm of fine dining, rather than replacing conventional meat products in everyday cooking. 

As they say on their website:

We craft food unlike anything else you’ve eaten. We’re not out to replicate meat as you know it; we’re aiming to make it yummier and more nutritious.

 

Their cultured foie gras has been available at high-end restaurants in Singapore for over a year under the name ‘Forged’, and has now made its debut in a range of hatted restaurants and pubs across Sydney and Melbourne, too.

What exactly is lab-grown meat, and how is it made at Vow?

 

 

Despite sometimes being described as ‘lab-grown’, cell-cultured meat products aren’t actually made in a lab – but they aren’t made by slaughtering animals either. According to Sam Perkins, CEO of Cellular Agriculture Australia, cultivated meat is produced in food manufacturing facilities that look quite similar to breweries.

The process begins with a small sample of cells taken from an animal (in Vow’s case, a quail), which are placed into a nutrient-rich broth in large stainless steel fermenting tanks. From there, the animal cells ‘culture’, which means they grow and multiply naturally. 

After 79 days, it’s time to harvest: The meat is separated from the liquid (sort of like separating curds from whey) and used to create products like foie gras and parfait.

Think of it like meat brewing … We take in a bunch of fairly primitive raw ingredients – sugar, salt, acid, vitamins, minerals – and we stick them in a highly automated brewery, and meat comes out the other side.

 

And it turns out this process isn’t all that ‘futuristic’ at all! In fact, it’s almost old news. Cell-cultured foods have been around since 1990, and many cheeses have been made using cell-cultured rennet for years.

Lab-grown meat boasts some serious advantages

You might find yourself thinking, “But why grow meat in a factory?” To which we might ask: How much time do you have 😅

Cell-cultured or lab-grown meat has a lot going for it: 

❤️ It poses fewer disease risks than conventional meat production

Meat produced the conventional way – by raising and slaughtering animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses – is nowhere near as ‘natural’ or ‘healthy’ as you might think.

Even in so-called ‘free range’ systems, it is routine and standard for stressed animals to be packed by the thousands into crowded, unhygienic cages, sheds, and feedlots. These conditions create a perfect storm for diseases to run rampant, and according to leading experts, the meat industry’s resulting overuse of antibiotics poses a massive threat to global public health and the effectiveness of many modern medicines.

In contrast, cell-cultured meat removes animals almost completely from the equation: No factory farms, no stressed animals, no contaminants or pathogens, and no antibiotics required. Just a clean, controlled environment that ‘grows’ meat naturally, using nothing but simple starter ingredients and clever food science!

🌎 It’s lighter on the planet than raising and killing animals

Animal agriculture eats away at a massive proportion of Earth’s natural resources like land and water, and generates harmful greenhouse gases every step of the way – including those released due to land clearing, and the immense amount of waste and pollution farmed animals produce throughout their lifetimes. 

Leading scientists and environmental organisations are calling for a drastic shift away from meat consumption for the sake of the planet, and cell-cultured meat could provide a much more environmentally friendly stepping stone for consumers along the way. 

After all, cell-cultured meat is the exact same product as conventional meat – just without any of the emissions and pollution inherent to raising and slaughtering animals en masse, and requiring only a fraction of the land.

🐷 It drastically reduces the number of animals slaughtered for meat

While the initial cells used to start growing cell-cultured meat come from an animal, a single sample can be used to replicate the product indefinitely. 

Vow reports, for example, that they can turn just a few quail cells into more than a tonne of product in around a month, and many companies are actively working towards processes that don’t involve animals at all. 

So, although these products aren’t 100% animal-free (yet), a gradual shift towards cell-cultured meat could still drastically reduce the number of farmed animals slaughtered for meat each year. 

For meat-eaters who want to make an impact without changing their cooking or eating habits, cell-cultured meat is undeniably the better choice. As an identical alternative to traditionally farmed meat, it presents a familiar and completely seamless switch with enormous benefits for animals, public health, and the planet. 

Cell-cultured meat could help shape a kinder, more sustainable future

 

 

With far-reaching benefits for people, animals, and the world we all inhabit, perhaps this new way of producing meat will usher in a new category of meat-eaters: ‘neomnivores’!

Vow plans to expand its range within Australia over the coming years, and we’ll undoubtedly see new brands and products gradually emerge, too. 

Over the next few decades, analysts predict that cell-cultured meat and other types of alternative proteins will take a significant market share from the conventional meat and seafood industries – a shift that could help slash agriculture-related environmental damage and reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance and zoonotic disease outbreaks. 

Realistically, however, there’s still a long way to go before cell-cultured meat products become readily available or even affordable for the average consumer, and we may not see them hit the supermarket shelves for several years to come. In the meantime…

Plant-based eating remains our easiest & most powerful tool for change 🌿

Both cell-cultured meats and plant-based alternatives offer potential solutions to the environmental and ethical challenges of conventional meat production. But where cell-cultivated meat is still expensive and available only in the fine dining sphere in the form of dishes like ‘quail foie gras’ (it doesn’t get much more niche than that 😅), easily recognisable plant-based meats are already sizzling around every corner! 

From entirely vegetarian menus at restaurants, cafés, and fast food chains to supermarket fridges overflowing with meat-free chicken, plant-based beef, and pork alternatives, it’s never been easier to find mouthwatering vegan versions of all your meaty favourites. 

Plus, plant-based alternatives are even better for animals, our health, and the planet than cell-cultured meat promises to be!

Commonly made from wholesome ingredients such as wheat, legumes, and vegetables, plant-based meats boast lower saturated fat, lower cholesterol, and more dietary fibre than any kind of animal meat (cell-cultured or otherwise). 

They also have a significantly greater environmental benefit over conventional meat production than cell-cultured products do, as cell-cultured or lab-grown meat is currently very energy-intensive to produce. Research has found that simply switching to plant-based eating can reduce diet-related emissions, water pollution, and land use by a whopping 75% – drastically reducing the environmental impact associated with the food we eat every day. 

So, as appealing as cell-cultured products might be to the ‘neomnivores’ of the future – as a less harmful version of real animal meat – plant-based alternatives still reign supreme long-term on both the health and environmental fronts. And until animals are completely phased out of the cell-cultured meat process, they remain the kindest option, too.

Ready to put more plants on your plate? Let’s get started!

If all this talk of making a positive impact through food has left you with an appetite for change, we’d love to send you a free veg starter kit. Inside you’ll find heaps of tips, recipe ideas, and recommendations for all the best plant-based products on the shelves today.

After all, alternative proteins like cell-cultured or lab-grown meat may be on the horizon, but delicious plant-based options are already lighting up the food scene right now. And with so many delicious veg options waiting to be explored, why wait another day to start making a difference?

Header image: © Vow