What Is Lab-Grown Meat?

Lab-grown meat (also known as clean meat or cultured meat) is actual meat that is produced by growing living cells in large vats similar to the ones beer is brewed in. The initial cells are taken from real animals, then immersed in a liquid growth medium in which the cells divide and multiply, eventually growing into actual muscle tissue, also known as meat. Producers claim that one cow tissue sample yields enough muscle tissue to make 80,000 quarter-pound burgers.

This way of making meat has many benefits, including its lower impact on the environment. However, due to high production costs, lab-grown meat is not available on the market as of yet.

Benefits of Lab-Grown Meat

The prospect of meeting a significant amount of the world's demand for meat without needing to raise and slaughter actual animals is obviously appealing for a variety of reasons. Not only is growing meat without having to kill animals attractive morally, but researchers also say that lab-grown meat could be produced using just a fraction of the physical space needed for raising livestock, using far fewer resources, with a far lesser environmental impact, such as water pollution and generating greenhouse gases.

Researchers also say the time required to produce a pound of cultured meat is much shorter than the time it takes to produce a pound of meat by raising live animals from birth. And because lab-grown meat is made from actual animal cells, the meat that is grown is the actual meat of that species of animal: beef cells produce beef meat, chicken cells produce chicken meat, and so on.

Downsides of Lab-Grown Meat

The biggest hurdle to the widespread acceptance of lab-grown meat is its cost. Several years ago, a scientist produced a burger made entirely from lab-grown meat, at a cost of over $300,000. While the expenses have come down since then, a pound of lab-grown meat in 2019 was priced at about $100.

Of course, these costs are hypothetical, since there currently is no lab-grown meat available to the general public. Proponents consider a target price of $10 per burger at which lab-grown meat would be a viable consumer product, and this is still a ways off. Until then, lab-grown meat only exists in labs. In addition to cost, there is also the issue with juiciness and taste.

Taste of Lab-Grown Meat

Apart from a select few scientists and journalists, no one has tasted lab-grown meat. But the journalists who have sampled various prototypes have reported that the texture and consistency is exactly like real meat. Where it falls short is in its flavor and juiciness.

That's because any piece of meat is made of not just muscle but also fat. And that means that in addition to being able to grow protein cells in a lab, manufacturers also need to be able to grow fat cells—and then combine the two into a product that more closely mimics the texture, consistency, juiciness, and flavor of meat.

Moreover, in theory, anyway, it should be possible not only to grow cultured meat that is species-specific, it should also to be possible to grow meat from a specific muscle, for instance, beef rib and beef chuck; pork loin and pork belly; chicken breasts and thighs.

Cooking With Lab-Grown Meat

Assuming the scientists developing it are able to iron out the issue of fat content, cooking with lab-grown meat should replicate the experience of cooking conventional meat. That is, the meat will turn brown through the Maillard reaction, and the proteins will firm up, shrink, and expel liquid just as normal meat does. 

Although it's worth noting that as prices for lab-grown meat will initially be high, it is likely that some of the earliest products will consist of some sort of hybrid product consisting of part lab-grown meat and part plant-based meat. As such, there will likely be somewhat of a learning curve when it comes to cooking it. The advantage is that by combining it with plant-based meat products, which have reached high levels of sophistication in terms of flavor and texture, it will be possible to produce something that is appetizing.

Lab-Grown Meat in the Market

Due to several factors, there is no clear timeline as to when clean meat will hit the grocery store shelves. As with any type of food, lab-grown meat needs to be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and currently, the FDA is starting to look into it. At the same time, there is resistance from traditional meat producers under the belief that lab-generated products should not be labeled as meat, resulting in a lack of interest from the public. Despite all of this, clean meat companies are continuing their research and are determined to enter the market.