Don't listen to Big Cattle — lab-grown meat should still be called "meat"
Lab-grown meat is on its way, and the government is trying to figure out how to regulate it. This week, the US House of Representatives [pdf] released a draft spending bill that proposes that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulate lab-grown meat and figure out how it should be labeled — which is a contentious topic since Big Cattle doesn't want it to be called "meat." Regulation is important, and there's plenty more to learn, but the USDA shouldn't be the only one regulating. And when the product comes to market, yes, it should be called "meat."
Traditional meat, of course, comes from animals that are raised and slaughtered. Lab-grown meat (also called "in-vitro meat," "cultured meat," or "clean meat") is made from animal stem cells grown in a lab. But because the stem cells are typically fed with a serum derived from the blood of calf fetuses, the product uses animal products and isn't vegan. Still, the pitch for lab-grown meat is that it saves animals and also helps the environment because lab-grown meat doesn't take much land or energy to grow. Plus, lab-grown meat doesn't directly create methane emissions, while methane emissions from cows accounted for 16 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015.
Because of the way that government agencies work, it hasn't even been clear who should regulate lab meat. The USDA traditionally regulates meat, while the US Food and Drug Administration regulates food safety and additives. The proposal that the USDA be in charge of regulation is in line with what the [pdf] National Cattlemen's Beef Association wanted, but some lab-meat advocates fear that USDA will be biased against them in favor of traditional meat. If the USDA will be regulating lab meat, it should at least collaborate with the FDA. There are no slaughterhouses for the USDA to inspect anyway, and the FDA has already been regulating food technology, like the genetically engineered salmon it approved. It makes the most sense for the two to work together.
Previously: U.S. Cattlemen's Association Wants an Official Definition of "Meat"
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday May 14 2018, @05:43AM (4 children)
It's meat.
Maybe you're alluding to the lab-grown burger, which was made completely of small strands of muscle cells put together, but with no fat cells, like 100% lean ground beef. And that will probably remain one of the easiest forms of lab-grown meat to manufacture. But it is possible that they will figure out how to make real "cuts" with fat and even bone in the right places. In the short term, they will be able to produce something that is indistinguishable from lean ground beef, unlike the many vegetarian meat imitations out there. Something like the Impossible Burger [wikipedia.org] is the closest to actually getting into an uncanny valley of non-meat. But lab-grown/cultured meat is meat, just like 96% lean ground beef or some kind of McD's/Taco Bell pink slime mix is.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 14 2018, @11:50AM (2 children)
I'll be happy to consider that meat. But I don't consider most sausages as meat not even if they have some muscle cells somewhere.
So hopefully they can draw a suitable line where something meets the standards for meat that most people would agree with :).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday May 14 2018, @12:03PM (1 child)
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/sausages-and-food-safety/ct_index [usda.gov]
... and so on. The USDA standards can be pretty permissive compared to your view. Cultured meat could slot in there easily by defining the muscle cells as the main meat content and respecting applicable fat limits while containing no byproducts (so it could easily beat a lot of sausages in quality terms).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 14 2018, @06:01PM
You should mention that meat is required. It's not enough to limit byproducts.
That brings us back to the definition of "meat"...
There is a labeling requirements guide [usda.gov], which contained this:
I'll research that later (probably not), but I don't expect to find a definition of "lab meat".
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday May 14 2018, @03:54PM
It's meant, it's not meat, no it is meat, I haven't seen this much beating the meat since I don't know when. You don't need to choke a chicken to play with real meat, or even spank a monkey, whether your meat missile is grown or cultured shouldn't make any difference. No need to be a jerkoff about it.