Guidelines for environmental life cycle assessment of cultivated meat
Cultivated meat is produced by growing animal cells in vitro without using, or reducing the use of, animals for meat, poultry, or seafood production. Responsibly and consistently investigating the environmental impacts of cultivated meat is essential to provide reliable performance benchmarks and realistic comparisons with animal-based production systems. In this contribution, we provide technical, actionable guidelines for conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) of cultivated meat and highlight further research needs for the field. We assembled a global team of recognized and active scientists in cultivated meat LCA, livestock systems LCA, and ISO LCA standards to develop this set of guidelines using a workshop (in person and online) and online meetings, as well as asynchronous feedback, to reach consensus. These guidelines provide specifications throughout the four phases of LCA, from goal definition to the interpretation of LCA results. Data gaps, including the availability and quality of feed or food-grade culture media component inventories, are among the areas highlighted for further exploration. We invite LCA practitioners to apply these guidelines when investigating cultivated meat systems to increase the consistency and reliability of environmental impact evaluations for these emerging products.
Authors
- Shashank Goyal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4258-2083)
- Tamar Meshulam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4642-0655)
- Martin Heller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9204-6222)
- Sergiy Smetana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5471-0521)
- Bradley G. Ridoutt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7352-0427)
- Tamar Makov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7345-5864)
- Ira Bhattarai
- Pelle Sinke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2949-8853)
- Ashley Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4838-064X)
- Nicole Tichenor Blackstone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8343-3650)
- Hanna L. Tuomisto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5971-8354)
- Cresha Gracy Nadar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1316-6582)
- Julian Quandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3095-2710)
- Amin Nikkhah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3008-2401)
- Kirsten Trinidad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0409-7095)
- Gregory Norris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4131-5282)
- Shira Shabtai
- Will Barnes
- Nicole Imholz
- Anisiya Pavlova
- Natalie Ronco
- Joe Duncan-Duggal
Institutions
- Tufts University (US)
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL)
- Institut Mérieux (France) (FR)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Augsburg (DE)
- University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (DE)
- German Institute of Food Technologies (DE)
- University of the Free State (ZA)
- Helsinki Institute of Physics (FI)
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (FI)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Sustainability Institute (ZA)
- Bridge University (SS)
- Agriculture and Food (AU)
- Tunbridge Wells Hospital (GB)
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (GB)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-025-02562-4
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.15
Funders
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Towards Sustainability Foundation
- Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Moonshot Research and Development Program