Naturally Grown Meat or Cultured Meat?
As a conservative consumer of food, I was stunned by the innovative creation of a US tech startup, Eat Just (in San Francisco) which introduces lab-grown meat. As announced on 2 Dec, Eat just had gained the world’s first regulatory approval to sell meat cultured from animal cells to the consumer. The Singapore Food Agency ( SFA ) approved Eat Just’s cultured chicken meat for sale in the Southeast Asian city-state after a “rigorous consultation and review process”.
Well, most of us really have no idea of what cultured meat represents; it’s culturing process and nutritional values, etc. Cultured meat is produced by in vitro cell culture of animals and it’s a form of cellular engineering. According to their website, the process involved isolating animal cells via a non - invasive harmless method ( i.e the cells are fed with nutrients like amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, fats and vitamins, after which they are grown into meat rapidly using a bioreactor ( mimicking the process of brewing beer ), to ensure the animal is slaughtered free and this could simply mean obtaining a chicken feather to cultivate it. This concept can be traced back to 2013 when Mark Post, a professor at Maastricht University being the first to showcase a proof-of-concept for cultured meat by creating the first burger patty grown directly from cells. The meat resulted to be high in protein, rich in minerals and low in saturated fat.
Though I think that the commercial value of cultured meat has yet to surface, it is, however, understandable that the goal of such company is to create a sustainable supply of meat production giving rise in the demand for meat by 2050 (according to a report by www.mitsui.com) while having another advantage in reducing greenhouse emission (refer to https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-pig-and-chicken-supply-chains).
In fact, Eat Just is just among the many companies which created the cultured meat product. Mosa Meat, founded in 2013 by Dr. Mark Post of Maastricht University, crafted the world’s first cell-cultured hamburger in London. Memphis Meats a Berkeley, California-based startup founded by cardiologist Dr. Uma Valeti and cell biologist Dr. Nicholas Genovese in 2015 also uses myosatellite cells to grow meat products and has produced cultured chicken nuggets and beef meatballs, as well as duck tissue. (source www.marketwatch.com)
Relating to the recent COVID19 lockdown, I can appreciate that this could be one of the efforts to combat the food supply chain in terms of the traditional agriculture produce.
Now, scratching your head on where to grab a bite of this cultured chicken? It is offered at 1880, a private members club/restaurant at Robertson Quay, ( 1 Nanson Road, Level 3, Singapore 238909).
Despite the difference in the meat format, 1880 continues to serve its patrons with unexampled sensuous gastronomy experience and delights with the following sample dishes.
The GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken is available in a trio of sample dishes: bao bun with crispy sesame cultured chicken and spring onion; phyllo puff pastry with cultured chicken and black bean puree; and a crispy maple waffle with cultured chicken with spices and hot sauce, all with an affordable price of $23.
Reverting to whether naturally grown meat is better than lab-grown meat, it all depends on each individual’s acceptance level, and certainly, if such produce gains popularity in time to come with a massive scale production, it could entail an increase in the price of naturally grown meat since the lab-grown produce may penetrate the market at a lower price with a lower cost.
