https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/25/10/20/13863/

Umami Bioworks is a Singapore-based company developing cultured fish meat, https://umamibioworks.com/ .  The company held a sensory evaluation event in Tokyo to evaluate the taste of three types of cellular foods, including cultured eel.

Currently, Japan has no rules in place to recognize cellular foods as food, and the products are not sold, making them unavailable to the general public. However, sensory evaluation events are possible, where participants taste and evaluate the taste for research purposes. Umami’s sensory evaluation session was also conducted by members participating in research and development to evaluate taste, and was reported to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Consumer Affairs Agency, and local public health centers.

Umami has the technology to establish mesenchymal stromal cells from fish tissue, differentiate and culture both muscle cells and fat cells from these, and combine them to create fish meat. They are developing “cultured fish meat,” a cellular seafood food. They are primarily developing high-quality fish for which farming techniques have not yet been established, as well as endangered fish species. They primarily develop products in collaboration with external food companies, with the aim of selling them in Japan.