2024-05-04 12:40:14
[토요기획] ‘Hot potato’ cultured meat amid food crisis
Alternative meat made from animal stem cells such as cows and chickens… Attention as an alternative to meet future meat demand
There are many environmental benefits, including a 96% reduction in greenhouse gases… Commercialization of cultured chicken meat, development of minced beef
Expands to a 3.8 trillion won market by 2030
Active investment in Singapore, which imports 90% of food… Italy, which has a developed livestock industry, strongly opposes this.
《The taste of ‘cultured meat’ grown in a laboratory
‘Rather than slaughtering a cow in a slaughterhouse, we produce steak beef in a laboratory.’ It may sound unfamiliar, but this is the future that is coming soon. We looked into the world of ‘cultured meat’, where meat is produced in large quantities in a laboratory using animal stem cells.
“Bleeding food is now a thing of the past forever.”
Yoon Yu, CEO of biotechnology company BF, recently featured in Disney+’s self-produced drama ‘Dominant Species’, said this at the company’s new product presentation. BF in the movie is a company that is receiving the most attention worldwide for opening the era of laboratory-grown meat, or ‘cultured meat’ that does not require slaughter.
Yoon Ja-yu’s line, which is consistent with the company’s name, which is derived from the first letters of BF and ‘Blood Free’, ultimately means that the primary industry of livestock farming has collapsed and the era of cultured meat made in a laboratory has arrived. BF and Yoon Ja-yu receive the honor of solving the future food crisis, but they are threatened by many people working in the livestock industry.
As the drama is set in the not-so-distant year 2025, the confrontation between technology, biotechnology companies, and the livestock industry that appears in Dominant Species is very similar to that of the era we live in today. How will the cultured meat industry develop as of 2024?
● Market formation of 3 trillion won by 2030… Celebrities also invested
Cultured meat is a type of meat substitute made by mass culturing in a laboratory using stem cells collected from animals. Due to explosive growth in population and urbanization, meat consumption is increasing. Cultured meat is receiving great attention as an alternative to meet this demand.
In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicted that the population will increase to about 10 billion people in 2050, and global meat consumption will increase by more than 36% from 330 million tons to 450 million tons in 2021. This means that it is difficult to meet the increasing demand for meat with current livestock farming methods.
From an environmental perspective, cultured meat also has many benefits. According to the international academic journal ‘Environmental Science and Technology’, when cultured meat is commercialized, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 96% and land use will be reduced by 1% compared to existing livestock farming. Energy and water usage are also reduced by 45% and 96%, respectively. In the drama, Yun Yu-do also emphasizes this point when introducing BF’s cultured meat products.
Considering this marketability, market research firm Allied Market Research predicted that the size of the cultured meat market would reach $2.7881 billion (approximately KRW 3.8671 trillion) in 2030. As the number of vegans who do not eat meat increases, and Islam and Judaism, which do not eat pork, recently recognized cultured meat as halal (a product that Muslims can eat and use), the related market is expected to grow even faster.
Famous wealthy individuals such as American Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and former GE Chairman Jack Welch are already investing in several cultured meat startups.
● Start commercialization with cultured chicken meat, which is easy to develop
Eatjust, invested by Bill Gates, is the first company in the world to receive approval for cultured meat. It received permission from the Singapore Food Authority (SFA) in 2020 and from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year.
Recently, EatJust has been introduced as a cultured meat development company, but in fact, EatJust is more famous as a company that developed ‘Just Egg’, an alternative egg made from vegetable protein. EatJust, which currently occupies 99% of the U.S. alternative egg market, also sells alternative egg products in Korea through SPC Samlip.
Eatjust used this know-how to develop ‘Good Meat’, cultured chicken meat that mixes vegetable protein with chicken fibroblasts (a type of stem cell). In Singapore, a restaurant called ‘Herber’s Bistro’ sold salad food using Good Meat. However, sales are currently suspended in order to further expand the business following US approval.
Upside Food, which received permission from the USDA along with Eatjust, is also a company that develops cultured chicken meat. The plan is to secure a facility capable of producing up to 23 tons of cultured meat per year in California, USA, and expand it to a larger scale in the future.
It is no coincidence that two of the world’s leading companies chose cultured meat from chicken rather than beef or pork. This is because chicken dishes were judged to be the most advantageous in order to eliminate consumers’ resistance to cultured meat and increase consumption.
Red meat, such as beef or pork, is more difficult to implement technically because there are many things to consider, such as marbling and natural red color. On the other hand, chicken, which is white meat, is relatively easier to achieve the taste and appearance of meat.
Additionally, mass production of cultured meat requires cell lines that can divide continuously over a long period of time. These cell lines can be obtained by filtering cells that occur naturally in the animal’s body, or through genetic manipulation. Chickens also have the advantage of being easier to secure cell lines than cows or pigs because they can secure multiple cells from fertilized eggs.
● In reality, there is a high possibility of ‘minced meat’ or ‘thin steak’
So, when will we be able to taste the ‘Korean beef steak’ cultured meat introduced by BF in Dominant Breed?
Beef and pork cultured meats are still being actively developed. However, the cultured meat we will be able to eat in the near future will most likely not be in the form of thick steaks, but rather finely minced ‘minced meat’ or thin steaks.
The steak (chunk of meat) we eat is a combination of not only muscle, but also fat, tendon, blood, and various substances surrounding cells. All of these elements must be properly cultured like a ‘comprehensive gift set’ to create steak cultured meat. In the drama, BF was able to stand tall as a global company, beating out other cultured meat companies, because it developed cultured meat that mimics the exact same shape and taste as steak.
On the other hand, minced meat can be made into a cell mass by separately differentiating muscle, fat, and connective tissue from stem cells, and then combining them appropriately to produce a taste and appearance similar to meat. For this reason, minced meat is the most realistic alternative at the current level of technology.
A domestic industry official said, “To make thick cultured meat like the steak we eat, cells must be cultured in layers. “This takes time because it requires the support needed for cells to grow and engineering technology to increase the density of cells in a small space,” he said.
● Singapore and the US ‘welcome’ vs Italy ‘legal prohibition’
As ‘sustainable Earth’ has emerged as a global concern, many governments are interested in cultured meat technology, but they are still unable to easily grant permission due to various controversies surrounding cultured meat. There are many opinions about the safety of stem cells, which serve as ‘seeds’ for cultured meat, but above all, this is due to the relationship with the livestock industry, which is the primary industry.
Geographical factors played a large role in Singapore being the first to approve cultured meat. Singapore, a small island country with a total area of 700㎢, uses only about 1% of its total area as farmland. This is a condition in which agriculture and livestock farming cannot develop.
‘Food security’ is a very important national issue in Singapore as 90% of food is imported from other countries, and cultured meat is an important alternative to solve this problem. In particular, the Singapore government’s ’30 by 30′ goal of becoming self-sufficient in 30% of food needs by 2030 has given wings to cultured meat.
On the other hand, Italy, which has a developed livestock industry, strongly opposes cultured meat. The Italian Parliament passed a bill banning cell-cultured meat in November last year, banning the production, export, and import of cultured meat made from cell-cultured tissue derived from animals. Some lawmakers criticized the bill as “anti-scientific,” and although there were physical fights during the vote, the bill was passed by a large margin. Anyone who produces, exports or imports cultured meat in Italy must pay a fine of 60,000 euros (about 88.8 million won).
Korea, which had not shown any particular stance until now, has recently begun to reorganize related systems. In February, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced the revision of the ‘Standards for Recognition of Temporary Standards and Specifications for Food, etc.’, which states that raw materials obtained through cell culture technology are recognized as food raw materials. The possibility of cultured meat being approved as a food has opened up.
Currently, several startups in Korea, including Thyssen Biopharmaceuticals, Dana Green, Seaweed, Cellmeat, and SpaceF, are developing various cultured meats. Large companies such as CJ, Lotte, and Daesang are also investing in cultured meat companies or building technology and facilities through business agreements. An industry insider said, “I understand that in addition to the revised notice, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is also considering a licensing track for cultured meat,” and added, “As many domestic companies have participated, we expect active and preemptive easing of regulations.”
Reporter Choi Ji-won [email protected]
2024-05-04 12:40:14