Bluu Seafood, a known producer of "synthetic seafood," has created the first-ever "lab-grown" fish products. The Berlin-based firm is now readying them for regulatory approval so they could be distributed soon in some parts of the world.
'Lab Grown' Fish Products in Two Forms
According to a report by TechCrunch, Bluu Seafood is currently the leading company in terms of creating "synthetic" food out of cultured fish.
The German startup started in 2020, and it was initially known as Bluu Biosciences. Since overfishing remains a rampant problem in society because other countries allow it, Bluu has thought of an idea to mitigate it.
To stay away from cruel ways of fishing, the company decided to utilize stem cell technology to make worthwhile products that are safe for human consumption.
The company has revealed the so-called "fish fingers," which are also called "fish sticks." At first, you might mistakenly recognize them for fried food--something that resembles coated hotdogs and the like. In reality, they are very healthy to eat since they come from cultivated fish cells.
The other fish product is the fishball which is naturally made from lab-grown fish cells. Moreover, Bluu says that it's packed with plant proteins, so it's easy to chew and cook whenever you like. Unlike the usual fishball, its crispy-looking appearance is more appealing.
Many Firms Are 'Fishing' Into Bluu
In the same report by TechCrunch, several firms have been working their way out to create the best-cultivated seafood product in the market.
For instance, Wild Type allocated $100 million for the development of cultivated salmon. The company wants to achieve the "sushi-grade" texture and taste of this product. Meanwhile, CellMeat from South Korea has focused on bringing lab-grown shrimp into reality.
That way, these companies not only help in launching sustainable products for the people, but these "synthetic" foods are all natural since they are made up of real cells.
"That is the amazing thing about 'immortalized' cells - while 'normal' cells double for, let's say, 20 times and then stop, the immortalized cells keep on doubling - theoretically forever," Bluu co-founder Simon Fabich said in an interview with the tech site.
Somehow, it will still take years for Bluu to develop new products from different sources. As such, it aims to make sashimi and fish filets born out of natural animal cells.
Approval For Lab-Grown Products Will Be Challenging
Although it sounds good on paper, the regulatory approval for lab-grown products does not come easy for each company. So far, Singapore remains to be the sole region in the world that has passed approval to sell cultivated meats.
This time, if Bluu aims to reach that goal, it would need to earn approval from the "small dot" nation. If it succeeds as planned, the seafood firm will go to other regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and European Union.
Fabich embraced that gaining approval varies from one region to another. According to him, Bluu Seafood might need to present important documents and studies to strengthen its bid for approval in different markets.
In other news, The Fish Site reported that a group of scientists was able to convert fish scales into high-quality carbon nanomaterial. To view the study "Fabrication of ultra-bright carbon nano-onions via a one-step microwave pyrolysis of fish scale waste in seconds," visit Green Chemistry for more details.
Read Also : 3D Printed Meat: Lab-Based Alternative Could Unite Both Meat Lovers, Vegans--Find Out Why
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Written by Joseph Henry
