Kashrut & Cultured Meat

Hello Everyone,

“Cultured” meat or “cellular meat” (and there are I believe, other names for this type of food) is just one the latest examples of  food is being produced by the application of technologies  as opposed to simply relying upon farmers.

The question of  whether cultured meat is kosher can only be answered after we have some understanding of the Halachot that relate to the use of animal tissues to produce a new item of food.

One of the oldest questions relating to this subject is the question ( which is still debated) of the kashrut of gelatin.

So for this series of three meetings we will discuss the subject of cultured meat from the perspective of history. Our first session will discuss gelatin, the second session will be a discussion of the science of producing cultured meat from stem cells. The third session will be a study of the recent teshuvah that Rabbi David Lau ( the Chief Rabbi of Israel) sent to the directors of an Israel firm setting forth the parameters for saying that their cultured meat product could be considered to be kosher.

Hello Everyone,

Cultured meat is a new technology. In today’s session I will try to explain the science behind this development and how the Halacha relates to developments in technology. Finally, if we have time I will begin to discuss a ruling by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau on this subject.

Hello Everyone,

In the previous two sessions we discussed the Halachic theory which would permit, in very very specific circumstances, the consumption of the product known as “cultured” or “cellular” meat.

If one was to say that this product is kosher, this would lead to more questions. First, is this product categorized as “meat” in the Halachic system? Second, if this product is not defined as “meat” then may one eat it with milk?

Today we will see the teshuvah of Chief Rabbi Lau who deals with these questions in his teshuvah regarding the cultured meat product manufactured by the Aleph Farms company.