By now, most of us are familiar, at least conceptually, with food made from cultured animal cells. This refers to meat that is “grown” in a controlled environment, rather than as part of a living animal. It has been referred to by a variety of names, including “lab meat.” While the concept of “lab meat” remains less than desirable to many, and the subject of at least some consumer scorn, that will likely change over time as these products are increasingly produced in a manner that is readily indistinguishable from traditionally sourced products. Of course, that will also require meeting and exceeding other types of benchmarks by which we judge animal-derived products, such as safety, taste, texture, nutrition and cost.
Clearly, many hurdles remain to be cleared, and there is no way to know if cultured meat products will ever become widely available. For years, the development of cell-cultured products has languished due to technological and scalability issues. That may be changing, however. Advancements in cell culture technology have brought producers to the threshold of bringing new products to market.