Israel's chief rabbi, David Lau, published Wednesday morning an official opinion piece from his office according to which cultured meat that was not produced from the meat of an existing animal is kosher and not considered to be meat but rather should be seen as a plant.

This means that according to the Chief Rabbi’s opinion, an observant Jew is allowed to eat cultured meat produced in a laboratory with dairy products in specific situations. However, the rabbi did emphasize that for now, observant Jews should not eat it with dairy out of fear that it will lead others to mix meat that has not been grown in a lab with dairy.

Chief Rabbi: cultured meat is considered a vegetable but can't be consumed with dairy https://t.co/mQ53sZ3rXJ

— GasGerd (@gas_gerd) January 19, 2023

The Ashkenazi chief rabbi published his opinion in response to a request sent to him, regarding the production of cultured meat, and its kosher status in Judaism. Before writing the opinion, he came to tour the factory that sent him the letter in the city of Rehoboth and examined the process closely.

The Chief Rabbi on cultured meat:

In short, if it looks like meat, tastes like meat, is marketed as meat, then it is to be treated as meat. pic.twitter.com/Qp0TuC1ywy

— benwaxman (not a parody) (@benwaxman) January 18, 2023

Rabbi Lau emphasized that the opinion is intended to decide, in principle, the question of the status of cultured meat produced from stem cells produced in the manner presented to him in the factory, in which the cells are not produced from the meat of an existing animal but from stem cells produced from washing embryos, Isolating stem cells from them, and planting and feeding them in a "vegetable" like substrate. According to him, the definition of meat as kosher is subordinated to the fact that the additional ingredients in the dish are kosher and supervised by a rabbi.

For those who prefer their steak sustainably-made, this Israeli cultured meat offers an alternative which can strongly impact the way food is made around the globe in the future: pic.twitter.com/TX3HB6CGKF

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) February 23, 2021

In the document, Rabbi Lau also added that "as long as the cultured meat is defined and marketed as a 'plant product closest to meat', subject to the fact that there will be supervision that the stem cells are indeed produced from washing embryos, as well as there will be supervision over the rest of its ingredients, then the law of this cultured meat is kosher as a plant product".

However, he points out that "in the event that the cultured meat is marketed as meat or meat products, and in particular if its shape is similar to meat in its taste and odor during cooking, there is room to make it stricter and define it as kosher but in terms of mixing it, cooking it and eating it with dairy products."

Cultured meat is now being mass-produced In Israel https://t.co/Uw4UxyhutM

— Theflowernurse (@theflowernurse) December 22, 2022

The possibility of producing laboratory meat has presented the religious arbitrators in Israel with a situation that has never been before and requires the rabbis to start getting involved in the issue in order to guide those who observe the Jewish law on how to behave in relation to it.