[에듀플러스] Cultured meat approaching the table

The day is getting closer when cultured meat, called “laboratory-made meat,” is actually on our table. In the United States, the realization is already on the verge.

Recently, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the private sale of chicken products by culture meat producers “Upside Fuse” and “Good Meat.”

These culture meat producers have already been determined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it is safe for people to eat culture meat products. Good Meat recently, Upside Foods was back in November last year.

This is the second case in Korea. It Just, an affiliate of Good Meat, already supplies cultured chicken to Singapore. It was approved for sale in 2020, and you can actually taste cultured chicken dishes at certain restaurants.

Cultured meat, as its name suggests, is meat that is cultured with cells. Stem cells are extracted from animals, differentiated into muscle cells, and then put into a bioreactor containing the culture medium to make meat tissues. It is a dream technology that was only seen in science fiction novels and movies in the past.

While there is no controversy over ethical reasons, there is an opinion that culture and education technology is essential for the future.

This is due to the possibility of a disruption in meat supply due to climate change. For example, in Mongolia, livestock are often killed in droves because of “zoad,” which means disaster.

Zoad is an extreme weather event which calls for mass death of livestock. Some statistics show that 500,000 livestock in Mongolia have died in recent years due to extreme climate change.

This is not just a problem for Mongolia. It is not known how the global meat market will change in the future due to climate change that is increasing day by day. Moreover, if cultured meat can reduce meat consumption and even livestock breeding, it can prevent huge greenhouse gas emissions. Methane gas emitted by a cow per day reaches up to 500 liters (ℓ).

The problem is that it is still difficult to say that the culture and education technology is sufficiently secured. Technological hurdles are scattered up to mass production.

In fact, there is not much supply on the market for cultured meat, and about 2300kg of cultured meat is sold annually in Singapore, where sales are made. Upside Foods and Good Meat, which will be available for sale in the U.S. in the future, will also first supply products to some U.S. restaurants.

Above all, a technical challenge to set production costs is urgent. Although it is not comparable to the production unit price of hundreds of millions of won in the early days, the unit price is still high.

More than half of the production cost of cultured meat is spent on the culture medium, which is expensive. Scientific efforts such as optimization of culture technology and development of mass production technology are still needed.

It is pointed out that research is also needed to make parenting more delicious. The challenge is to implement elements that give us a taste of meat that we are familiar with, such as marbling with adequate fat between muscles and meat meat made up of muscle activities.

Of course, even if these technologies are not complete, they can be used for crushed meat and processed meat to play their role. However, if there is no research to further enhance the taste, it may put a brake on the expansion of the use of cultured meat.


Staff Reporter Kim, Yeongjun kyj85@etnews.com

김영준 기자 kyj85@etnews.com