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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday December 03 2020, @07:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the mcnuggets-2.0 dept.

No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time:

Cultured meat, produced in bioreactors without the slaughter of an animal, has been approved for sale by a regulatory authority for the first time. The development has been hailed as a landmark moment across the meat industry.

The "chicken bites", produced by the US company Eat Just, have passed a safety review by the Singapore Food Agency and the approval could open the door to a future when all meat is produced without the killing of livestock, the company said.

Dozens of firms are developing cultivated chicken, beef and pork, with a view to slashing the impact of industrial livestock production on the climate and nature crises, as well as providing cleaner, drug-free and cruelty-free meat. Currently, about 130 million chickens are slaughtered every day for meat, and 4 million pigs. Of all the mammals on Earth, 60% are livestock, 36% are humans and only 4% are wild.

[...] Eat Just already has experience in selling non-animal products, such as its plant-based egg and vegan mayonnaise, to consumers. Another company, Supermeat.com in Israel, has just begun free public tastings involving a "crispy cultured chicken".

Industry experts said other companies, including Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms, might do well in future as they were working on textured products such as steaks and were able to produce significant amounts of lab-grown meat from the start. Tyson and Cargill, two of the world's biggest conventional meat companies, now have a stake in Memphis Meats.


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Lab-Grown Meat: Never Cost-Competitive? 42 comments

Lab-grown meat is supposed to be inevitable. The science tells a different story.

Splashy headlines have long overshadowed inconvenient truths about biology and economics. Now, extensive new research suggests the industry may be on a billion-dollar crash course with reality.

[...] [In March], the Good Food Institute (GFI), a nonprofit that represents the alternative protein industry, published a techno-economic analysis (TEA) that projected the future costs of producing a kilogram of cell-cultured meat. Prepared independently for GFI by the research consulting firm CE Delft, and using proprietary data provided under NDA by 15 private companies, the document showed how addressing a series of technical and economic barriers could lower the production price from over $10,000 per pound today to about $2.50 per pound over the next nine years—an astonishing 4,000-fold reduction.

In the press push that followed, GFI claimed victory. "New studies show cultivated meat can have massive environmental benefits and be cost-competitive by 2030," it trumpeted, suggesting that a new era of cheap, accessible cultured protein is rapidly approaching. The finding is critical for GFI and its allies. If private, philanthropic, and public sector investors are going to put money into cell-cultured meat, costs need to come down quickly. Most of us have a limited appetite for 50-dollar lab-grown chicken nuggets.

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:39AM (#1083550)

    Love shack!

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:47AM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:47AM (#1083552) Journal

    "not moo"?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:23PM (#1083754)

      No moo meat for you!!!

  • (Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:15AM (6 children)

    by legont (4179) on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:15AM (#1083556)

    Of all the mammals on Earth, 60% are livestock, 36% are humans and only 4% are wild.

    .
    Just check NYC rats community.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @11:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @11:56AM (#1083575)

      are we counting them as human now?

    • (Score: 2) by helel on Thursday December 03 2020, @02:25PM (1 child)

      by helel (2949) on Thursday December 03 2020, @02:25PM (#1083621)

      I don't think they're counting NYC as "the wild" altho that does leave the rats ambiguously between human and livestock, along with Fido.

      The more serious answer would be that the number should actually reference a percentage of total biomass [pnas.org], not individuals. That means you're looking at 150-200 rats per resident just to break even.

      • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday December 04 2020, @04:46PM

        by legont (4179) on Friday December 04 2020, @04:46PM (#1084065)

        I don't think they're counting NYC as "the wild" altho that does leave the rats ambiguously between human and livestock, along with Fido.

        They specifically said "wild mammals".
        If they don't count NYC rats, they should not count a single mammal in the US as the country at some point was totally deforested (one can add prairies and such herself) and, probably, wild mammals free. Whatever exists now is no different from rats as they are in symbiosis with humans. One can easily check it by counting deer while going deeper into the forest. All the deer are around humans. The rest of food chain is similar. Deep woods are empty in the US. Animals don't like it over there. It's too tough to live truly wild. Being around humans is more comfortable.

        --
        "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 3, TouchĂ©) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:52PM (1 child)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:52PM (#1083656)

      There's a very real distinction between headcount and total mass. Arguably, one African bush elephant is worth 26,000 8oz rats.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @07:18PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @07:18PM (#1083733)

        How many 8oz rats is a European bush elephant worth? Just curious

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:54PM

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:54PM (#1083657) Journal

      No, that's what they're trying to remove, the piles of excrement.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:22AM (8 children)

    by legont (4179) on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:22AM (#1083557)

    Are we getting human based meat? Why not? I am willing to donate mine.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:25AM (6 children)

      by legont (4179) on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:25AM (#1083558)

      Come to think about it, grow at home kit would be even better. Similar to abortions argument, I can do whatever I want to my body, including eating it.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:31AM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:31AM (#1083560)

        technically, you can't do anything you want to it. in civilized countries, the police are supposed to protect people from themselves when necessary. and I believe there are some countries where they go so far as to publish suicide attempts by death, so they're taking this stuff seriously.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @11:58AM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @11:58AM (#1083580)

          I've never understood that one. Illegal to try to kill yourself. Yet, do they charge a person if they succeed?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:20PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:20PM (#1083583)

            They kill you a second time...

          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:56PM (1 child)

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:56PM (#1083660) Journal

            No, they just charge you a huge fine, that way your estate gets a nice kick in the pants.

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:23PM

              by istartedi (123) on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:23PM (#1083710) Journal

              Yeah, that. It sort of makes sense, because if they didn't do that then people might kill themselves so their heirs get whatever government-sponsored programs there are to pay for the loss of a relative. Insurance companies often have a suicide clause for this very reason. Making it illegal and fining the estate is an extra layer of financial protection for any entity that might otherwise be required to pay out.

              --
              Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:57PM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:57PM (#1083661)

        Ladyfingers, they taste like ladyfingers.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:46PM (#1083587)

      Soylentnews: You read the recipe here, first!

  • (Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:48PM (6 children)

    by shrewdsheep (5215) on Thursday December 03 2020, @12:48PM (#1083589)

    How about the growth medium? By TFS it would not be animal derived. Can this be confirmed?

    Sorry, TLDR.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:04PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:04PM (#1083592)

      IIRC (read TFA last night) these chicken bites are grown with a cow-blood mixture because that was approved by Singapore's FDA first, but they have vegetable-based media coming in the future.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:13PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:13PM (#1083596)

        so it still needs halal certification

      • (Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:51PM (2 children)

        by shrewdsheep (5215) on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:51PM (#1083653)

        Thx. Ironically, this implies that at the moment many cows have to be killed in order to to produce the meat equivalent of a single cow (so much for the no-kill).

        • (Score: 2) by pe1rxq on Thursday December 03 2020, @07:16PM (1 child)

          by pe1rxq (844) on Thursday December 03 2020, @07:16PM (#1083732) Homepage

          While they probably kill the cow, it is possible to extract blood without killing.....

          • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday December 04 2020, @04:51PM

            by legont (4179) on Friday December 04 2020, @04:51PM (#1084068)

            So, we are going to be blood suckers. Nice.

            --
            "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:21PM (#1083771)
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Username on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:53PM (11 children)

    by Username (4557) on Thursday December 03 2020, @01:53PM (#1083605)

    Ok, let us say we do find a way to make fake meat tastier and cheaper than real meat. All those "captive" animals won't go free. They will get slaughtered, and none will be raised to replace them. Entire species will risk extinction since no one will need them anymore. Half the animal population will disappear off the face of the earth. All all those farmers will sell off the farm since they're grandfathered in, and most cannot repurpose the land. Those green pastures will turn into subdivisions, parking lots and starbucks.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by helel on Thursday December 03 2020, @02:37PM

      by helel (2949) on Thursday December 03 2020, @02:37PM (#1083628)

      What species do you think will go extinct as a result of this? Let's assume for a moment that lab grown eggs and milk follow shortly after steak, along with lab grown leather and wool. Plenty of people will keep horses, pigs, and chickens as pets, based on their current popularity as such. I also know people who keep donkeys, goats, and sheep as pets as well. Their numbers will, obviously, drop by 99.x% but I don't envision them going extinct, even ignoring feral populations.

      As for the ranches, you might be right. I suspect a few will stick around tho. Look at the hippy market for organic-grass-fed-free-range beef. Those people will take allot more than lower prices to bring over to lab grown meat.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 03 2020, @04:01PM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday December 03 2020, @04:01PM (#1083664)

      Half the animal population will disappear off the face of the earth.

      Half the mono-cultured hyper-managed animal population, to be replaced by natural animal life that evolves to fill niches in the ecosystem instead of being engineered to fill niches in the economy.

      When I walk in the woods, I enjoy the experience 1000% more than a walk in a stockyard or dairy farm. Unmanaged forest/wild land throws off beneficial effects to surrounding environments, engineered economic engines ("productive" farms) throw off pollution and other negative effects to their surrounding environments.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:28PM (3 children)

      by istartedi (123) on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:28PM (#1083713) Journal

      No, real meat will be for the wealthy. Most of us will be left with "what's in this?" food. If this stuff becomes terribly common, I'll probably eat more and more vegetable-based proteins and occasionally spring for real meat as treat. I already do that for health reasons--not any kind of idealism. Most Americans eat too much meat, and I was raised by WW2 era parents who put too much meat on the table. I think it may have been a reaction to what they went through. Imagine living in a gritty city, eating government rations, fighting a war. Then after that, the groceries are full of food. Red Lobster and Black Angus spring up out of the ground. You can afford to eat it all! It's only natural they indulged a bit too much and passed on some bad habits. I've been correcting it in my adulthood.

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:35PM (#1083775)

        Most of us will be left with "what's in this?" food.

        Aw, I was going to mention that the McRib came out this week for a limited time, but you beat me to it.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @01:31AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @01:31AM (#1083847)

        Nonsense.

        Vegetarianism is a status symbol. The cheap meat eating slobs will keep on eating entrails and water-pumped fatty mince like they always have. Maybe only the high end of the market will be affected.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @04:04PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @04:04PM (#1084046)

          Obesity is a sign of poverty in the modern world. The rich are far more educated and up-to-date about nutrition and can afford to take time to cook and eat a balanced diet. I predict rich people will be eating vat meat while profiting off ignorant bible thumpers who would rather pay extra to eat antibiotic-laden factory-farmed livestock.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:30PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:30PM (#1083714)

      Not too worried.

      I mean, besides all the arguments about whether animal agriculture is a noble calling, or a blight on the landscape, or an infamous crime against whatever ... there's another factor.

      Agriculture in general, but lab-grown stuff in particular, is hostage to the energy economy. And here I'm not just talking free range beef, but also things like good ol' corn, soy, potato, quinoa and the rest of it. And we still don't have a useful alternative for the purpose to petrochemicals. Yeah, solar is lovely, and gives you whiter teeth and fresher breath, but we don't yet run combines on solar, and have very little prospect of doing so. Ditto tractors for all the tilling, and saying not a word about where fertiliser comes from either.

      When the dinosaur juice runs low, and the prices rise at the pump, your veg(etari)an crowed will still want their oats and triticale and buckwheat, and that stuff won't be planted one kernel at a time before a farmer plants a boot on it to cover it and spits on it to get it started. At the least, you'll have a seed drill getting it into the soil (even in low till/no till/pasture cropping scenarios) which means you need a substitute for the diesel.

      Unless you have a real wind/solar/whatever power revolution, it'll be (expensive) diesel ... or .... wait for it ....

      Draught animal power! That's right. Ol' Dobbin will be pulling the plough again. Or maybe Speckles and Blue, the trusty team of oxen. Same for logging, come to think of it.

      Or we could get a team of veg(etari)ans hitched up to earn their daily bread the old-fashioned way, but I doubt they'd have a lot of pulling power.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:38PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @09:38PM (#1083776)

        I think implementing national service should solve any agricultural labor shortage. Most people aren't smart enough to do useful work, and we don't need that many janitors, so the majority will be on the farms, doing jobs we haven't designed robots for yet, increasing the agricultural output of areas that import much of their food, and bringing new money to undeveloped rural areas.

    • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:45PM

      by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 03 2020, @06:45PM (#1083722)
      It's not like this will happen overnight. Ranchers (or more accurately, large ag companies) will just keep smaller and smaller herds (or flocks or whatever) based on market demand until they get to a point where non-lab grown meat is the norm and meat from live animals becomes a niche item. As for them going extinct, so what? Those breeds only exist for being raised as food. You won't find them in the wild today unless you happen across some that escaped and went feral. They are not part of the natural food cycle right now anyway, so there should be few if any negative effects from their disappearance, while there would be quite a few positive ones.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @01:36AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @01:36AM (#1083849)

      > Ok, let us say we do find a way to make fake meat tastier and cheaper than real meat.

      That's already happened in my opinion. In my house we make Beyond Burgers using thins, kraft cheese, slice of tomato, dill chips and 1000 island dressing. They're better than any fast food burger.

    • (Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Friday December 04 2020, @02:29AM

      by ChrisMaple (6964) on Friday December 04 2020, @02:29AM (#1083861)

      It's unlikely that "Those green pastures will turn into subdivisions...". Much ranch land is flat, empty, and boring, not attractive to people living in cities and existing suburbs. It will simply be abandoned and return to nature, whether that is forest, grassy plain, or almost-desert.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:57PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @03:57PM (#1083662)

    Humankind has done the most evil things you could do to another being.

    Taken all the pleasures out of life.
    No eyes to see. No ears to hear life. No brain to feel life. No skin to touch a mate.
    NO SOUL!

    Don't eat! Free the meat! Don't eat! Free the meat! Don't eat! Free the meat!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @05:48PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @05:48PM (#1083694)

      Humankind has done the most evil things you could do to another being.
      Taken all the pleasures out of life.
      No eyes to see. No ears to hear life. No brain to feel life. No skin to touch a mate.
      NO SOUL!

      My soul got vaporized & replaced with a spark through a freak accident, you insensitive clod!

      • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday December 04 2020, @12:57AM (2 children)

        by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday December 04 2020, @12:57AM (#1083836) Journal

        Animals never had souls, you insensitive clods! That's why it's okay to slaughter and eat them.

        A most strange fact is that, actually, a lot of animals make good use of being preyed upon. Don't have to bother restraining their own numbers themselves, when there are predators who can do that, uh, service for them.

        We can imagine even stranger things. For instance, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe: https://youtu.be/bAF35dekiAY?t=91 [youtu.be]

        • (Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Friday December 04 2020, @02:40AM (1 child)

          by ChrisMaple (6964) on Friday December 04 2020, @02:40AM (#1083864)

          The only thing that can in reality be called a soul is the mind -- note that reality excludes religious fantasies. To the extent that an animal has a mind, it has a soul, and many animals in addition to humans have minds.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @04:14PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @04:14PM (#1084051)

            "Mind" is probably just as bad as "soul". Does a brain imply self-awareness? Is a self-aware organism necessarily more intelligent, capable, or worthy of life than a not-self-aware organism?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:45PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 03 2020, @08:45PM (#1083760)

      Don't eat meat!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @03:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2020, @03:47AM (#1083899)

        Unless it's delicious. Which it all is. So.. eat carefully.

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