False. Cultivated meat is ‘real meat’ in that it originally comes from and is therefore genetically identical to meat from animal.

Cultivated, or cell-based, meat is produced by taking a small sample of (usually muscle) cells from an animal and proliferating them in a bioreactor alongside some scaffolding to provide structure. Cultivated meat is ‘real meat’ in that it originally comes from and is therefore genetically identical to meat from an animal. The only difference is that the animal cells are proliferated in a bioreactor instead of in an animal’s body. Other than that, the cells are provided with the same nutrients, minerals and growth factors that they would be exposed to in an animal's body.

Explore the evidence...

• In the United States, the FDA manages regulatory approvals for ingredients entering the food system. They do this primarily through granting GRAS status which indicates that the ingredient is considered safe by experts and therefore exempt from food additive tolerance requirements, a process that can be quite onerous.
  • Learn more about the approval of cellular agriculture.
  • Learn about the safety and regulatory approval process of precision fermentation in our blog.
• Proteins produced by modern food production methods are already used in healthcare, vitamins and cosmetics. We already eat many foods with ingredients produced by Precision Fermentation, yet very few of us are aware of it. These include valencene (orange taste and smell), raspberry aroma, sweeteners like thaumatin and vitamins, as well as a number of enzymes used in food processing like rennet, amylase or lipase. 
  • Explore our periodic table of Precision Fermentation to learn more the about incredible range of products on the market made using PF today.

Witness the transformation

Regardless of personal opinion about whether meat produced from modern foods is 'real' or not, we are already on the cusp of the deepest, fastest, most consequential disruption in food and agricultural production since the first domestication of plants and animals 10,000 years ago. 

The cost of modern proteins will be five times cheaper than existing animal proteins by 2030 and 10 times cheaper by 2035. Eventually, they will be nearly as cheap as sugar. They will also be superior in every key attribute–more nutritious, healthier, better tasting and more convenient, with almost unimaginable variety.

Learn more about the disruption and transformation of the food & agriculture sector.

Published on: 12/07/23