David Parry / PA Wire
Cultured Beef
Chef Richard McGeown cooks the 3D Printed beef burger
Today, 5th August 2013, saw the unveiling and tasting of Cultured Beef, a study from Maastricht University into creating a sustainable alternative approach to meat production.
Though, as others have suggested, this is not the “3D printed” burger - that is a technique being honed by Modern Meadow specifically – the creation and concept behind it is very similar. Meat or muscle tissue is cultivated from stem cells and beef is created.
The Cultured Beef project is part funded by Google mastermind Sergey Brin, who is adamant that this technology will be the future of meat production as the world population grows and traditional farming methods are becoming unsustainable.
After Professor Mark Post unveiled the burger to the press it was up to chef Richard McGeown to cook the £215,000 burger, food writer Josh Schonwald and nutritional researcher Hanni Rützler were to taste the burger.
After some suspenseful chewing Hanni Rützler said: “… there is some intense taste, it is close to meat but not juicy enough, the consistency is perfect, I miss some salt and pepper.” The lack of juiciness is down to the fact that there is no fat in the Cultured Beef, fat undeniably gives burgers their flavour and will no be hard to reproduce.
So there we have it, proof of concept, this works and it signals a chance for the world to change the way we farm. Whether it be 3D printing burgers like Modern Meadow suggest or large scale factory production, this could see the end of the slaughterhouse… though not for some considerable time.
