Singapore Becomes 1st Country to Sale 'Clean Meat' Worldwide  

 Singapore has given a US start-up the green light to sell lab-grown chicken meat, in what the firm says is the world's first regulatory approval for so-called "clean meat" that does not come from slaughtered animals.

The regulatory approval is part of Singapore's plans to produce more of its own food.

Lab-grown or cultured meat is grown from animal muscle cells in a lab.

Globally more than two dozen firms are testing lab-grown fish, beef, seafood, and chicken.

The meat, to be sold as nuggets, will be priced at premium chicken prices during its launching in a restaurant in Singapore "in the very near term", Eat Just co-founder and chief executive Josh Tetrick said.

Demand for alternatives to regular meat is surging due to concerns about health, animal welfare, and the environment.

Plant-based substitutes, popularized by the likes of Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Quorn, increasingly feature on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.

But so-called clean or cultured meat, which is grown from animal muscle cells in a lab, is still at an early stage given high production costs.

Singapore currently only produces about 10 percent of its food but has set out ambitious plans to raise that over the next decade by supporting high-tech farming and new means of food production.

Tetrick said his San Francisco-based firm was also talking to US regulators but that Singapore was a "good bit" ahead of the US.

The Singapore Food Agency said it had reviewed data relating to process, manufacturing control, and safety testing before granting approval.

Eat Just said it would manufacture the product in Singapore, where it also plans to start making a mung bean-based egg substitute it has been selling commercially in the US.

Founded in 2011, Eat Just counts Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing and Singapore state investor Temasek among its backers.