Meat grown from animal cells

What is it? – It’s meat grown from the cells of animals in steel tanks. Though it’s known in the industry as cultivated meat, it’s sometimes called cultured meat, lab-grown meat or cell-based meat.

Where can it be obtained? – It will be initially rolled out at restaurants. Consumers can expect cultivated meat to be sold at a growing number of restaurants and small retailers within the next two to five years, and on supermarket shelves within seven to 10 years, said Sebastian Bohn, a project manager specializing in cell-based food for CRB.

How is it made? – It starts with cells, which can come from a fertilized egg, a special bank of stored cells or tissue initially taken from a living animal. The cells are mixed with a broth of nutrients that the cells need to grow and divide. Cells are triggered to turn into skeletal muscle, fat and connective tissues. After days or weeks, the cells are removed from the tanks and shaped into products such as nuggets.

Is it really meat? – Experts say it’s real meat created in a different way. Some versions of cultivated meat contain a small amount of vegetable proteins.

Will people buy it? – Until this meat costs and tastes the same as traditional meat, “it’s going to stay niche,” said Bruce Friedrich, president of the Good Food Institute. Some people find the idea of meat from cells strange. A recent poll conducted by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found half of U.S. adults said that they are unlikely to try it. A World Health Organization report on the food-safety aspects of cell-based food noted several potential issues – such as microbial contamination at various points in the process, biological residues and by-products, and scaffolding that some people might be allergic to.