Lab-Grown Meat 25 Times Worse For Climate Than Beef Unless Production Method Changed

Meat produced from cultured cells could be 25 times worse for the climate than regular beef unless scientists find ways to overhaul energy-intensive steps in its production, Alice Klein reported for New Scientist.

Photo Insert: Lab-grown or “cultivated” meat is made by growing animal stem cells around a scaffold in a nutrient-rich broth.

Lab-grown or “cultivated” meat is made by growing animal stem cells around a scaffold in a nutrient-rich broth.

It has been proposed as a kinder and greener alternative to traditional meat because it uses less land, feed, water, and antibiotics than animal farming and removes the need to farm and slaughter livestock.

Such products cannot even be called “meat,“ as some important cell types, such as nerves and adipocytes, are not part of this invention, which is just a cell culture, European Livestock Voice reported.

Current data showed cultured production offers no environmental advantage compared to real meat. Early studies have shown that bioreactors used to cultivate cells spend a lot of energy with very high CO2 emissions.

“The fact that lab-grown meat is an energy-consuming process and involves the use of compounds and molecules normally not allowed for livestock, such as growth hormones and antibiotics, is very often overlooked. Researchers believe that artificial meat can be high in protein, but there is still a big concern about iron and vitamin B12 content. In fact, in vitro meat (IVM) will be deficient in vitamin B12, iron, and micronutrients specific to actual meat, as no technology that can faithfully reproduce its nutritional content has been implemented,” the trade publication argued.

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