The World's First Lab Grown Hamburger Is Served
By Sam Lewis
Beef derived from stem cells hopes to provide a sustainable alternative to traditionally produced meat
August 5, 2013 was an important day for the food industry. On that day in London, Dr. Mark Post — a cardiovascular biologist at Maastricht University — saw his last five years of labor turn into food when his lab-grown beef was prepared, cooked, and served to two volunteer tasters.
Dr. Post began his work of growing meat in the laboratory in 2008. Post extracted stem cells from a cow’s shoulder, placed them in a calf serum with protein strands and subjected them to micro-exercises. Five years later, Post had chef Richard McGeown assemble the product into a burger, binding it together with bread crumbs and egg, coloring it with beet juice and saffron, and presented a worldwide television audience with the first-ever lab grown hamburger. Voluntarily eating the experimental meat patties were Austrian food scientist Hanni Rützler and American author of The Taste of Tomorrow Josh Schonwald.
The meat patty was lacking any fat content as the technology to grow fat cells is still lacking. This had a profound effect on the burger’s taste. Schonwald says about the meat, “The texture, the mouthfeel, has a feel like meat. The absence is the fat. It's a leanness. But the bite feels like a conventional hamburger.” Furthering that notion, Schonwald said the burger had the texture of “animal protein cake.” Despite the burger not having fat content, Rützler offered a mixed review of it, “There is quite some intense taste. It is close to meat; it is not that juicy. More than I expected of the structure, it's not falling apart.”
Post was encouraged by the volunteer tasters’ opinions, “This was mostly to prove that we can make it,” says Post. “I think it's a very good start.” Post knows that the unveiling was just the end of the first step of a long road for in-vitro created meat. Post knows he must work on improving the taste of lab-grown meat by growing fat within it. Once Post perfects it, experimenting and growing different animal products in the lab can begin. Post believes commercial production of lab grown meat could be possible within the next two decades.
Scientists growing meat in laboratories believe alternatives are needed to stop the depletion of the planet’s resources while the world population continues to increase and the consumption of meat grows. Lab grown meat production consumes up to 60 percent less energy than conventional livestock production. This can result in up to 95 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions, along with dramatic reductions in land use. “What we are going to attempt is important because I hope it will show cultured beef has the answers to major problems that the world faces,” says Post. “We are catering to beef eaters who want to eat beef in a sustainable way.”
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