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Lab-Grown Burgers Become So Cheap, They Might be in Supermarkets Soon
Sputnik International ^ | April 7, 2015

Posted on 04/10/2015 7:44:39 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Scientists in the Netherlands are one step closer to producing a viable lab-grown alternative to the conventional beef burger patty.

Last year, Professor Mark Post and his team of scientists at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced the first prototype of a lab-grown burger. Benefits of this new burger production method include a decrease in animal slaughter, savings in land, water, and energy use required for livestock, and a reduction in greenhouse gases.

The project has faced several hurdles, though, not the least of which was the enormous price tag of 250,000 Euros, or $273,000. That was roughly how much it cost the research team to produce just one burger.

According to Post, however, the team has since figured out a way to drastically cut down the cost of production. In an interview with Australia’s ABC News, the professor said that a new technique would drop the cost of production to $80 per kilogram of meat, meaning that one burger patty would cost around $11.40 – an impressive drop from the initial $273,000.

The reason why the price dropped so drastically is because the new technique would just use a muscle tissue from a cow. The tissue would be placed on a petri dish of fetal calf serum which allows it to multiply. A small tissue, according to Post, "can produce 10,000 kilos of meat."

While the cost has been reduced enough to make the lab-grown beef more feasible, not all issues have been overcome. For one thing, even though the technique is cost-effective, it remains too slow for mass production.

A second obstacle is the very same serum responsible for the price drop. Fetal calf serum, which allows the muscle tissue to multiply, is made from the blood of cow fetuses and collected from slaughterhouses. The reliance on this serum therefore undercuts one of the project’s main goals — to decrease animal killing. Post has said that he and his team are currently working on replacing the serum with something that would not rely on animal products.

Finally, and probably more importantly for burger consumers, is the issue of taste. Food writer Josh Schonwald and nutrition researcher Hanni Rutzler, both of whom were part of the burger’s tasting panel last year, have said that the absence of fat in the lab-grown beef takes away from the patty’s juiciness and flavor.

All in all, scientists at Maastricht University expect the project to take some time, but aren’t giving up on bringing the lab-grown meat to supermarkets everywhere. "I do think that in 20 or 30 years from now," Post said, "We will have a viable industry producing alternative beef."


TOPICS: Agriculture; Business/Economy; Food; Science
KEYWORDS: agriculture; agw; beef; cattle; cloning; cows; dutch; food; holland; meat; netherlands; pinkslime; putin; russianpropaganda; shopping; sputniknews
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1 posted on 04/10/2015 7:44:39 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

yuck....


2 posted on 04/10/2015 7:46:31 PM PDT by cherry
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No thanks. God-made meat is all I want or need.


3 posted on 04/10/2015 7:48:15 PM PDT by Politicalkiddo ("The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." Thomas Jefferson)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Get your own dirt.


4 posted on 04/10/2015 7:48:36 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Another way the lefties make red meat look disgusting to get more people to go vegan.


5 posted on 04/10/2015 7:49:19 PM PDT by redfreedom (All it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing - that's how the left took over.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

the enormous price tag of 250,000 Euros, or $273,000.

I’ll stay with wagyu beef if you please.


6 posted on 04/10/2015 7:49:27 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Cold fusion
Solar power
Flying cars
Lab-grown beef

It’s all just 20 years away.


7 posted on 04/10/2015 7:49:49 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Victim" -- some people eagerly take on the label because of the many advantages that come with it.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’m waiting for fish.


8 posted on 04/10/2015 7:50:18 PM PDT by Misterioso (When men give up reason and freedom, the vacuum is filled by faith and force. -- Ayn Rand)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

9 posted on 04/10/2015 7:50:19 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
RE:”... meaning that one burger patty would cost around $11.40 – an impressive drop from the initial $273,000. “

Sounds like the food equivalent of battery powered cars.

10 posted on 04/10/2015 7:51:35 PM PDT by sickoflibs (King Obama : 'The debate is over. The time for talk is over. Just follow my commands you serfs""')
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Lab meat and global warming sex from prostitute women, the future is cool.


11 posted on 04/10/2015 7:51:47 PM PDT by ansel12 (Palin--Mr President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Awesome news! I can’t wait to taste it with my tofu.


12 posted on 04/10/2015 7:53:05 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: redfreedom

And the way prices are going up on red meat, they may be going at this in two directions.


13 posted on 04/10/2015 7:53:14 PM PDT by doc1019 (Blue lives matter)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Kremlin News go back to write titles in broken English, da?


14 posted on 04/10/2015 7:53:36 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

“Strong like bull!”


15 posted on 04/10/2015 7:56:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You can help: https://www.tedcruz.org/donate/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Post has said that he and his team are currently working on replacing the serum with something that would not rely on animal products.

There are many companies that have tried to develop alternatives to fetal calf serum. I've never come across a substitute that works.

Fetal calf serum is obtained when a pregnant cow is slaughtered. A single fetal calf might yield a liter of serum. That may cost several hundred dollars, depending on the supply of beef. Because growing cells in quantities sufficient to become a food supply requires a LOT more serum than I ever needed for growing cells for experiments in the lab, I'm not even going to begin to try to calculate how much it would cost to grow a pound of cells in a lab.

The bottom line is that this is unlikely to become less costly than natural meat, and will end up killing just as many, if not more, cows than needed just for meat. Because, to get all that serum, the cows have to be slaughtered while pregnant--which means two cows die, not just one. And more than one fetus will probably be needed to produce just a pound of lab meat. Researchers will still need the serum for experiments, which are (IMHO) more important than trying to shield people from the fact that animals are slaughtered for food.

One other complication is that researchers grow cells in plastic flasks or Petri dishes. The plasticizers leech quite readily into the culture medium used to grow the cells. While that isn't much of a concern when growing cells for experiments, I'm not certain that those plasticizers are a safe additive for food.

People just need to accept the fact that we are omnivores, and that means we do need to consume other animals in order to live. This is actually true of most animals; even some we consider herbivores do eat animal products on occasion. I caught my bunny at the cat food dish once...

16 posted on 04/10/2015 8:02:47 PM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yeah, I’m thinking, no.


17 posted on 04/10/2015 8:04:37 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (If a border fence isn't effective, why is there a border fence around the White House?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

At $11.40, that is some burger. Where I come from, it is called “Soylent Green”.

I’m going out for a pizza very soon.


18 posted on 04/10/2015 8:07:36 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper (madmax)
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To: exDemMom
...which means two cows die, not just one.

So you've described that an abortion will accompany a cow slaughter. That's a lefty sacrament so it makes the killing thing more palatable.

19 posted on 04/10/2015 8:07:57 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (If a border fence isn't effective, why is there a border fence around the White House?)
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To: exDemMom

They’ll probably fall back on us peasants eating insects, rodents, lower order sea creatures and the like while the elites will still get beef, pork, lamb, shellfish, chicken and good fish.


20 posted on 04/10/2015 8:08:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You can help: https://www.tedcruz.org/donate/)
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