Posted on 02/12/2024 4:28:29 PM PST by nickcarraway
Israeli food-tech startup collaborates with Japanese restaurant to craft prized dishes with eel meat made from animal cells.
Dishes made from the meat of eels are popular in many Asian countries and beyond. But overfishing of eels has turned this aquatic delicacy into an endangered species, leaving suppliers struggling to keep up with the surging demand.
Forsea Foods of Rehovot is now saving wild eel populations from near extinction by unveiling its first prototype of cell-cultivated freshwater eel that has the same texture and flavor as the traditional Japanese unagi eel (Anguilla japonica).
Forsea was founded in 2021 with a mission to turn the tide on the downward spiral of the ocean’s seafood populations by developing cell-cultivated alternatives.
“This milestone marks a major leap in our journey to deliver delicious cultured seafood products,” claims Roee Nir, CEO and co-founder of Forsea.
“Forsea is pioneering the fusion of traditional, high-quality Asian cuisine with groundbreaking technology to create the world’s first cultured unagi—one that will provide the consumer with a genuine seafood experience without putting further strain on aquatic life.”
The eel prototype is the result of a project with executive chef Katsumi Kusumoto to create vegan versions of two popular traditional Japanese dishes – unagi kabayaki (marinated grilled eel over rice) and unagi nigiri (barbecued eel sushi).
Kusumoto runs the vegan restaurant SAIDO in Tokyo, which was voted the world’s best vegan restaurant in 2019 by the online restaurant guide Happy Cow.
“Unagi is an enduring favorite in Japan,” said Kusumoto. “Its timeless appeal, however, is impacted by a growing awareness among the Japanese population of the need to take a more sustainable approach. It’s been a thrilling journey to join forces with emerging innovators, and working together to deliver the traditional unagi indulgence with a clear eco-conscience.”
The working proof-of-concept — free from antibiotics, hormones or ocean pollutants — is now ready for scaleup by Forsea, winner of the Startup Pitch Hour Prize at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit last October in Singapore.
Forsea projects that its cultivated eel product will be ready for commercial launch in 2025 as it seeks strategic partners in Japan (the largest consumer of freshwater eel) and across Asia. Europe and the United States also are also on its radar as rapidly developing markets.
To accelerate progress, Forsea has expanded its team, forming new engineering and food applications departments. Nir has appointed Mayu Sugisaki as business development manager in Japan in order to cement its presence in the Asian food market.
This is promising....
“Aleph Cuts’ first commercial product, Petit Steak, is made of non-modified cells of a premium Black Angus cow named Lucy, as well as a plant protein matrix of soy and wheat.
Aside from starter cells from one of Lucy’s fertilized eggs, no animal-derived components or antibiotics are used in the cultivation process or the final product.”
No immortal cell lines used at all that’s a huge break through. They obviously went the fetal stem cells route and found a way to propagate them in bulk. A cow will have thousands of eggs at birth just like all mammals do. If they truly succeeded in using a single one to batch grow protein cells maturity that is nothing short of a paradigm shift. Humans can’t get off this rock by taking livestock with us the mass balance even with nuclear propulsion is wrong.
If this product doesn’t use immortal cell lines I certainly would try it out. In burgers ,tacos or nuggies I bet it’s indistinguishable from regular ground beef it certainly would be genetically identical to the parent cow Lucy.
https://www.israel21c.org/israel-approves-worlds-first-cultivated-beef-product/
https://www.israel21c.org/inside-the-startup-creating-the-future-of-food-production/
Look at the steaks being cut and served I would bet good money the average person would not be able to tell that was not sirloin steak because it is genetically beef from a real cow. This has been the goal all along grow protein cells up to maturity with lipids and connective tissue aka meat.
I absolutely would eat that steak they show. I would bet anyone of the 4 billion that suffer from chronic protein deficiency would gobble that up as well.
Those damn Israelis are trying to save fish species. How evil.
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