Can cultivated meat be “exercised”? Deep-tech food company MeaTech 3D Ltd. thinks so.
The company received its first patent out of several that are currently pending in the cultured meat industry. The patent, granted by IP Australia, is based on the company’s development of systems and methods to apply external forces to muscle tissue that result in the development of high-quality complex structured meat, a company release says.
One of the biggest obstacles of producing structured meat, MeaTech says, is figuring out how to enable the muscle tissue to mature with an enhanced fibrous texture that results in a mouthfeel with the right elasticity, density and taste.
“Our patented systems and methods strengthen and enhance cultured muscle tissues in a way that mimics how a cow’s muscles are developed while it walks and grazes,” said Dan Kozlovski, MeaTech’s Chief Technology Officer, in a release.
Do Consumers Want to Eat Cell-Cultivated Meat?
The verdict is still out on whether consumers will accept and rally around cell-cultivated meat.
David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering, and his team of graduate students at Tufts University, a private university in Middlesex County, Mass., are bringing together engineers, biologists, nutrition researchers and social scientists in an effort to grow cell-cultivated meat in bioreactors as part of a five-year, $10-million grant from the USDA to develop an alternative food source: meat produced not from farm animals, but from cells grown in bioreactors. Read the full story here.
“That’s still an unknown, and that’s why we included consumer acceptance as an important part of our study,” Kaplan said in the article. “The only data point we have so far is the overwhelming receptivity of consumers to plant-derived meats, like the Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers.”
But plant-derived meats are different than cell-based meat, he pointed out. He anticipated positive views, but admits he can’t be sure. Part of his team’s research will look at improving the nutritional content, shelf life, taste and flavor, and other qualities of cell-based meat.
Minnesota Study Says Plant Protein is Gaining
Speaking of plant protein, a new University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) survey says 80% of U.S. adult consumers today prefer pork, beef, poultry and fish as their main sources of protein. Plant protein is gaining popularity, however, with 31% of consumers saying they will eat more plant protein over the next five years, the survey says.
Valued at USD $29.4 billion in 2020, the plant protein sector could surpass $162 billion by 2030, composing 7.7% of the global protein market, Bloomberg Intelligence reports. In the CFANS Insights survey, Gen Xers indicated the highest preference for plant protein today at 26%, compared to 20% across other consumer segments. Their younger Gen Z counterparts, however, expressed the most willingness to pay more for plant protein options at 44%.
Until a Plant Tastes Like Bacon
Instead of thinking about non-meat protein foods as replacing traditional animal-based proteins, University of Illinois meat scientist Anna Dilger said she is trying to see them as a complement to animal-source foods.
“We can approach these foods as an ‘and’ and not an ‘or’ in global diets. We will need more protein in the future, and so we must think more holistically about all possible sources of proteins and when and how to use them,” Dilger said in a Farm Journal’s PORK column.
She believes there is room at the table for all kinds of protein.
“And frankly, until someone can make a plant taste like bacon, I think we will be okay,” Dilger said.
Editor’s Note: MeaTech is an international group of deep-tech food companies in the cultured meat revolution. The company initiated activities in 2019. MeaTech maintains facilities in Rehovot, Israel and Antwerp, Belgium and is in the process of expanding activities to the U.S. The company believes cultivated meat technologies hold significant potential to improve meat production, simplify the meat supply chain, and offer consumers a range of new product offerings. The company aims to provide an alternative to industrialized animal farming that dramatically reduces carbon footprint, minimizes water and land usage, and prevents the slaughtering of animals. With a modular factory design, MeaTech aims to offer a sustainable solution for producing a variety of beef, chicken and pork products, both as raw materials and whole cuts.
Read More:
Is There Room at the Table for Meat and Alternative Proteins?
$10-Million USDA Grant to Develop Cell-Cultivated Meat in Bioreactors
