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CULTURED MEAT MAKES BREAKTHROUGH BUT STILL HAS OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME

- DAMIEN MARTIN

After years of tinkering and scaling down massive production costs, cultured meat is finally ready for market. It took a massive step at the end of 2020 when Singapore approved Eat Just’s GOOD Meat chicken nuggets, now served at 1880 restaurant. It was the first time a government’s regulatory body approved the sale of meat grown from animal cells. It could be the first step in bringing slaughter-free meat to diets the world round.

MORE LIKE THE REAL THING

For cultured meat to grow in popularity and compete with both plant-based alternatives and traditional agricultural meat, there are some improvements to be made. So far, cultured meat works best in nugget and ground form, all minced up in a way that masks the taste.

The real test of how well it can duplicate the real thing is just a straight-up slab of meat, like a steak. That requires being able to reproduce the marbling of fat that accompanies muscle to give agricultural meat its signature flavor and texture.

That takes a lot of work and a lot of science. Researchers at McMaster University think they might be on to something. Ravi Selvaganapathy and Alireza Shahin-Shamsabadi have been stacking thin sheets of muscle and fat cells on top of each other to produce something more akin to “real” meat.