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KFC is working with a Russian 3D bioprinting firm to try to make lab-produced chicken nuggets:
KFC is trying to create the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets, part of its “restaurant of the future” concept, the company announced. The chicken restaurant chain will work with Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions to develop bioprinting technology that will “print” chicken meat, using chicken cells and plant material.
KFC plans to provide the bioprinting firm with ingredients like breading and spices “to achieve the signature KFC taste” and will seek to replicate the taste and texture of genuine chicken.
It’s worth noting that the bioprinting process KFC describes uses animal material, so any nuggets it produced wouldn’t be vegetarian. KFC does offer a vegetarian option at some of its restaurants; last year it became the first US fast-food chain to test out Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken product, which it plans to roll out to more of its locations this summer.
Bioprinted nuggets would be more environmentally friendly to produce than standard chicken meat, KFC says, citing (but not linking to) a study by the American Environmental Science and Technology Journal it says shows the benefits of growing meat from cells, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption compared to traditional farming methods.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Sunday July 19 2020, @11:47PM (12 children)
U.S. Cattlemen's Association Wants an Official Definition of "Meat" [soylentnews.org]
Regulation Coming to Lab-Grown Meat [soylentnews.org]
Mississippi Bans Calling Plant and Cultured-Meat Patties 'Burgers' [soylentnews.org]
Meat Industry PR Campaign Bashes Plant-Based Meat Alternatives [soylentnews.org]
Fake-meat fans have beef with Big Meat for trying to cut into plant-based market [arstechnica.com]
I think their biggest beef is with the plant-based meat alternatives. And the response has been to try to get regulators to restrict what can be called "meat" while pushing their own generic-looking plant-based meat alternatives to compete with the likes of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. I see 4-5 kinds at the supermarket now.
Cultured aka lab-grown meat will probably be embraced by the cattle industry at some point, if it can be used to lower their costs. It won't destroy the cattle industry anytime soon because of the bioprinting part. More on that later.
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(Score: 5, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 19 2020, @11:54PM (10 children)
I am picturing the meat being grown in warehouse type buildings, which would remove the need for farms or ranches completely, wouldn't it?
I may be missing something, but it seems to me lab-grown meat could be the end of animal farming altogether.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday July 20 2020, @12:14AM (4 children)
I may be missing something, but it seems to me lab-grown meat could be the end of animal farming altogether.
That's what I'm counting on. We could all have counter top incubators, or at least a unit in the basement. And lab grown is real meat, the same meat that the ManBearPig produces, so these lawsuits by the industry are totally frivolous. Unfortunately... money, plenty of corrupt judges to hear these cases
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 20 2020, @01:02AM (1 child)
That is just sick, man. You're going to grow your meat in the basement - where you might expect to find rats, roaches, and other unsavory pests. And, FFS, some woman's millenial son!
I'll stick with beef on the hoof, thank you. I'm not eating millenials.
(Score: 2) by zeigerpuppy on Monday July 20 2020, @11:23AM
A: I don't eat humans!
B: Why?
C: Because it's so hard to find them free-range...
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday July 20 2020, @01:20AM (1 child)
Farmers the world over seem to be very good at getting taxpayers to fund their businesses.
I have no doubt if it looks like lab-grown meat is going to put them out of business they'll find some way of getting paid.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday July 20 2020, @01:38PM
It's not the farmers, it's the agricultural corporations. And that's a very different animal...if animal it be.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Monday July 20 2020, @12:22AM (4 children)
You might be able to distribute the buildings in or near all cities. Less travel time to get to the customers, less fuel costs, less pollution.
You will still have animal farming on a smaller scale, catering mostly to rich customers. There will still be Kobe beef, Amish-sold products, etc. But the 50 billion hamburgers that Americans eat annually will mostly come from lab-grown meat. All of the veal at the supermarket will be cruelty-free, and so on.
If milk, eggs, etc. can also be replicated with a lab process, then we just won't see animal slaughter on the scale we see today.
In the short term, products made of ground meat will go lab-grown first, since it will be much easier to make those than say, a t-bone steak.
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(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday July 20 2020, @01:45PM (3 children)
I think you need to read "Caves of Steel" again, and this time notice the food supply. This would be a lot better than yeast, but it's the same idea. The traditional SF name for it is carniculture. (It dates back at least to "End of the Line" from the early 1950's, "Methuselah's Children" is the Heinlein take on it.) But I said "Caves of Steel" because of the implications that only human life was at all common. Everything else had been pushed aside to make room for more people.
That said, if they can fix the "beef serum" problem, this might be a good food source on an off-Earth installation. They've got a few problems to solve first, of course.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday July 20 2020, @07:56PM (2 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat#Production_in_Earth's_orbit [wikipedia.org]
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(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday July 21 2020, @12:24AM (1 child)
Yes, it *does* say that. But the claim is a bit ... overstated, at least by inference. They had to have brought all the supplies needed to grow the stuff, and those supplies could have included nearly anything. Also, astronauts have to be able to eat nearly anything edible, regardless of taste or texture.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 21 2020, @12:41AM
Yeah, it's probably best described as self-promotion for the Aleph startup like that whiskey in space thing, but it should give the idea more mass.
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(Score: 3, Funny) by ilPapa on Monday July 20 2020, @02:14AM
I see what you did there.
Well done.
You are still welcome on my lawn.