The big issue: Is or isn't clean-meat certified as halal or kosher?
Clean-meat startups are facing a big problem in food markets for religious minorities, as the Muslims and Jews scholars start the debate over halal and kosher compliance of lab-grown food.
As Quartz magazine noticed, halal market is worth 1.6 trillion dollars and the kosher market is valued at 24 billion dollars which makes the debate very interesting.
Just a few companies are driving the new trend of clean-meat, with the first product expected to hit the market this year, and certifying food products as kosher and halal it has turned to be a big issue.
Religious scholars are yet divided over the halal and kosher compliance of these products. Neither imams or the rabbis have an answer to the cell-grown meat dilemma. "This is new to us, something I’ve never thought about.This isn’t something you would find in the Quran", said Chernor Saad-Jalloh, an imam at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York.
Halal meat requires for the animal to be slaughtered with a sharp knife for the blood to be drained and an Islamic prayer called the “Bismillah,” must be said over the animal by the slaughterer, as well.
But clean-meat doesn't involve any slaughtering and blood. "I believe practising Muslims would stay away from this meat for a period of time", predicts imam Saad-Jalloh.
Similar questions are on the agenda of USA Halal Chamber of Commerce, a top 5 US halal certification organizations. "Part of the halal process is the animal has to be slaughtered properly, so when you take that aspect away from it kind of makes it more difficult to decipher", admits Aly Ghanim quality manager for the USA Halal Chamber of Commerce.
Jewish represents about 0.2% of global population, while the Muslims accounts for 23% in the world -1.6 billion- with the chance to grow at 2.76 billion by 2050, according to a study released by Pew Research Center.
(Photo source: PxHere)
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