Lab Grown Meat

Cell-cultivated meat, also known as lab grown meat, was Federally approved for sale in the United States in 2023, however bans are now expanding across the U.S. as more concerns arise.

Currently, Singapore and the U.S. are the only countries that sell this meat to their citizens. Australia and Israel are testing it, but it is not available for purchase. In the U.S, Florida was the first state to ban cultivated meat, and states such as Alabama, Nebraska, Montana, Mississippi, Indiana, South Dakota, and Texas have followed suit.

Cultivated meat is made by taking real animal cells, such as fat or muscle cells, and uses the in vitro process to grow them. These cells are fed with amino acids, sugars, vitamins and minerals in a large tank. Once they grow to a sustainable size, they are shaped into meat products and then shipped to restaurants and stores. The entire growing process takes two to eight weeks which varies on the type of meat.

In simpler terms, chicken cells get taken from a live chicken. Then those cells grow separately with nutrients in labs until they get big enough to eat. This is an example of this process with chicken, but cultivated meat can be grown from any type of livestock, poultry, seafood, or game. One company “Vow” tried it with exotic animals such as kangaroo and alpaca cells.

This means that more people can be fed without the slaughter of real animals and it also uses fewer resources, sustaining a growing population. Earth is projected to reach 9 billion people around the year 2037. With more people, new ways to mass produce food is something that needs to be done to prevent starvation. 

“In principle, cultivated meat is almost nutritionally identical to farm- or ranch-raised meat. But with cultivated meat, you can adjust the medium in which the living cells are grown to add certain vitamins and nutrients that would alter, and perhaps improve, its nutritional quality,” Dana Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, said. Hunnes is currently a clinical registered dietitian at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

However, many bioethical concerns have arisen regarding this process. While no animals are killed, the removal of tissue from them makes animal rights advocates concerned for the wellbeing of the animals. There is also a chance of mutations and additives in these products, which concerns consumers and their health. Most importantly, people are afraid of the fact that what they are eating was grown in a lab and not naturally.

The cost for maintaining and creating cultured meat products is expensive due to the facilities and the type of nutrients the cells need to grow.

There are over 150 different companies in the world that are involved in cultivated meat, 42 of them residing in America. In total, these companies have invested about $3.4 billion dollars to this cause. 

Specifically Upside Foods, a lab grown meat company that originated in California in 2015. Specializing in chicken, their website says that their chicken is made from: “Water, Cell Cultivated Chicken, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Fiber, Avocado Oil, Contains less than 2% of: Soy Lecithin, Glutamic Acid, Onion Powder, Salt, Garlic Powder, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavors, Sugar, Pea Protein, Dried Citrus Pulp, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid. *(Ingredients subject to change.)”

When referring to this variation of meat, producers prefer to use the term “cell-cultivated” or “cultured” meat rather than “lab-grown”. Arizona’s house bill 2739 states that while this meat can be sold, the packaging must clearly show the origin of the meat by labeling it as cultivated or cultured. 

“I think that brands or companies need to be completely transparent to the people they sell the meat to,” NHS sophomore Alexiane Kouassi said.

The chicken produced is not available for individual sale yet, but Upside Foods sends their chicken to restaurant partners where the chicken is then sold as meals.

“I think it’s a fine idea. The reality of it is that it’s generally more expensive than regular meat. I think if we get far enough into it, we might be able to bring that down and make it more resource efficient. But as of right now, I don’t plan on buying it because it’s just too expensive. I don’t think there's any issues growing meat in the lab. You’re not making a full cow, you’re just growing cells and getting a muscle that has no awareness. Are the cells alive? Yes. Is it an organism that's alive? No, not really. I haven't personally tried lab grown meat so I don't know if there's differences in flavor but if it wasn’t so expensive I would,” NHS Biology teacher Erik Ekman said.

The production of these meats are in sterile bio-reactors, which is a closed system with contamination free conditions. Other products like beer are also made in these chambers. This limits the chances of harmful mutations. 

“The only issue that might happen is if you get prion proteins that take place in there, which is similar to mad cow disease and I don’t know the likelihood of that happening randomly for lab grown meat,” Ekman added when asked about possible mutations.