Wall Street Journal writer Jacob Bunge reported last week that, “A Bay Area food-technology startup says it has created the world’s first chicken strips grown from self-reproducing cells without so much as ruffling a feather.
“And the product pretty much tastes like chicken, according to people who were offered samples Tuesday in San Francisco, before Memphis Meats Inc.’s formal unveiling on Wednesday.
“Scientists, startups and animal-welfare activists believe the new product could help to revolutionize the roughly $200 billion U.S. meat industry. Their goal: Replace billions of cattle, hogs and chickens with animal meat they say can be grown more efficiently and humanely in stainless-steel bioreactor tanks.”
Graph from The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal article explained that, “Startups including Memphis Meats and Mosa Meat, based in the Netherlands, have been pursuing the concept. They call it ‘clean meat,’ a spin on ‘clean energy,’ and they argue the technique would help the food industry avoid the costs of grain, water and waste-disposal associated with livestock. Scientists from those companies have already produced beef, grown from bovine cells and made into a burger and a meatball. Until now, chicken hasn’t been produced using the method.
“Big meat companies have taken notice. Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meat company by sales, launched a venture-capital fund in December that it says could invest in meat grown cell-by-cell. Kevin Myers, head of product development for Hormel Foods Corp., last fall called the startups’ research into the cultured-meat technology ‘a good long-term proposition.'”
Mr. Bunge added that, “Some who sampled the strip—breaded, deep-fried and spongier than a whole chicken breast—said it nearly nailed the flavor of the traditional variety. Their verdict: They would eat it again.”
