TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Singapore has granted the world's first regulatory approval of lab-created meat to U.S. food manufacturing startup Eat Just.

On Wednesday (Dec. 2), the American company, known for creating meat and egg substitutes, announced that it had received the green light from the Singapore Food Agency to sell its cultured chicken meat in the Southeast Asian country. The meat, which will debut as nuggets in a restaurant in Singapore "in the very near term," is created from animal muscle cells in a lab without slaughtering any chickens.

Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just, praised Singapore for being forward-thinking and said the company is planning to expand sales to more restaurants as well as grocery stores in the city-state. He added that the flavor of the cultured meat is the same as real chicken and that no antibiotics were used in the product.

Tetrick said the lab-grown meat will be sold at premium chicken prices in the first six months after the launch. He said the company is trying to bring the price to a more cost-effective level than conventional production in the future, reported CNBC.

Meat alternatives have become popular in the last few years due to growing concerns about the environmental impact of animal farming. Many people have also switched to consuming plant-based meat products for health reasons.