Environmental Impacts of Cultivated (Lab-Based) Blue Foods

Lab-based meat or cultivated meat (CM) is produced by growing edible animal cells using cellular agriculture techniques and eliminates the need to farm or capture live animals. Given the depleted state of global fisheries and adverse environmental impacts associated with aquaculture, CM systems may be particularly suited to help meet the rising demand for blue foods, especially high-value and luxury species, sustainably. Despite growing research into CM products and their potential to lower the environmental impacts associated with animal-based foods, the environmental performance of CM blue foods remains largely unknown. Here, we use life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the cradle-to-gate environmental impacts associated with three CM blue food products. We find that CM blue foods have a cumulative energy demand of 40-45 MJ kg^-1, emit 2.1-2.3 kg of CO₂ equiv kg^-1 (global warming), require 1.1-1.6 m² a kg^-1 (land use), consume 97-152 L kg^-1 (water use), and contribute 0.9-1.3 g of P equiv kg^-1 and 0.9-1.1 g of N equiv kg^-1 (freshwater and marine eutrophication). These impacts are generally lower than those reported for cultivated farm animals and for conventionally produced analogous blue foods. However, results reveal potential for environmental trade-offs (e.g., higher water use) and underscore the need for multi-indicator environmental evaluation of novel foods.