So what is clean meat exactly? In short, clean meat, milk, and eggs are animal products that are produced from cells rather than slaughter. These cells continue to grow as normal, creating animal protein without the confinement or slaughter of an animal. Sounds like science fiction, but it is closer to reality than we may think.
A collection of startups like Perfect Day , Just Inc and Finless Foods are working tirelessly on a commercial way to offer animal-free animal products to the masses. The initial cost of creating these products was exorbitant, but the prices are falling rapidly as advancements in technology accelerate. A controversial aspect of this research is with respect to the use of Fetal Bovine Serum taken from the heart of an unborn calf. This serum is used to feed the growing cells but creates a serious ethical obstacle in the quest for animal-free animal products.
Just Inc is the only company to have said they can culture their cells free from fetal bovine serum but are tight-lipped on their tactics for obvious reasons. The race to redefine food is highly lucrative and these companies have received funding from powerful investors like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Vinod Khosla, and Lee Ka Shing.
While none of these clean meat, milk and egg products are on the shelves today, it is expected that they will be hitting supermarkets by The main deterrent from a widespread adoption will be cost. The research and development invested in these products will keep the prices high in its initial launch stages, making it cost-competitive with free-range, grass-fed beef. As more investors back these clean meat companies, the costs of these products will fall year after year until they are at price parity with conventional, factory-farmed meat.
This will force the entire process of raising and slaughtering animals into a scrutinizing spotlight. Consumers will have to ask themselves how they can continue to justify the ethical and environmental concerns associated with conventional meat production when there is an identical product free from these moral issues.
