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In the culmination of a ground-breaking new scientific breakthrough, the world's first burger made from Cultured Beef was unveiled, cooked and tasted last week – and the consensus was good!
But what is Cultured Beef exactly? Basically scientists nurture bovine muscle cells – which have been painlessly harvested from a living cow – so they form muscle tissue, the main component in what we know as meat. From a biological perspective, Cultured Beef is identical to the meat that comes from cows, yet producing it could use up to 99% less space than what is needed for current livestock farming methods. On top of that, research has shown that the environmental effects of this method are significantly lower than that of modern farming.
Professor of physiology Mark Post, who grew the burger in his laboratory from some 20,000 muscle strands, is passionate about finding ethical and environmentally-friendly ways to produce meat. He believes this technology has the potential to change the world and the way we eat.
So, what does it taste like? Tasters Josh Schonwald and Hanni Rützler shared the burger with Post, and both were pleasantly surprised. In an hour-long special sponsored by the Dutch Maastricht University, they said the patty tasted very similar to the real thing – in both texture and taste.
Anyone interested in tasting Cultured Beef will need to be very patient - it'll still be 10 or 20 years until we see it in supermarkets.
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