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Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#101

Post by prometheus76 »

drdaeman wrote: post #70
prometheus76 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's meat, but also without the immune system so...good luck.

If I understood your comment correctly (I'm sorry if I didn't) - isn't it grown in essentially sterile conditions, so lack of immune system isn't an issue as I must imagine it shouldn't be able to communicate any transmissible diseases?

The sterile conditions become more fragile and easily contaminatible the larger the batch gets. So they need to increase the size of batches to make it economically viable, but increasing batch sizes makes it more likely to get contaminated, which kills the whole batch. Then you have to dispose of bio-waste material that has been contaminated in a safe and economic fashion, which is a whole different set of problems.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#102

Post by programmarchy »

roflyear wrote: post #23
Gordonjcp wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when they are fine with all the crap that goes into a cow to keep it healthy and alive long enough to slaughter What, like grass and sugar beet pulp?

Quoted post unavailable.

The FDA has approved all of the growth hormones currently in use. [1] So how is that any worse than growing the entire thing in a lab? If anything lab-grown meat is a more extreme version biological engineering.

[1] https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/product-safety-informa...

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#103

Post by lr4444lr »

prometheus76 wrote: post #72
chollida1 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain the significance of your statement? Surely the meat we all eat is dead along with the immune system and then cooked.

I'm talking about while you are growing the meat, whether it be in a natural system that is self-regulating and with an immune system, or in a vat where any contamination will spread rampantly. That's one of the biggest problems with lab-grown meat: if you make it at a scale that is economically feasible, the chance for contamination is so high that very few batches will make it through the process, and will have to…

Can't we solve this at least temporarily with a sodium rich environment? It seems to be effective for safe fermentation. I have no idea whether the biochemical reactions necessary to produce the meat though would be inhibited if we did this.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#104

Post by bsdz »

matrix_overload wrote: post #58
superkuh wrote: post #33

It will be animal cells differentiated into muscle tissues on collagen scaffolds initially. The technology comes from attempts to grow functional organs (ie, liver) that are biocompatible in the body serum proper. If there aren't health effects from transplantation within the animal type you can probably eat the animal tissues just fine. It's the same thing. It's meat. It's just without the animal suffering. And hope…

For context, the life of an average herbivore in the wild consists of living with no shelter in harsh weather while having to fear every sound. And it typically ends by being ripped to pieces by a predator and eaten alive while the brain still has some residual oxygen and awareness. The typical farmed animal experience where you are sheltered, vaccinated against common illnesses, provided food and slaughtered after b…

I'm not sure I buy your argument. For example, pigs have an average lifespan of 15-20 years but in a farm setting are slaughtered at 6 months old. Also I suspect a pig is more adapted to its natural environment than living in a confined shelter (often less than a square metre). In fact, in the UK, less than 1 in 20 pigs are allowed to go outside - hardly a good life! This is just pigs.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#105

Post by version_five »

matrix_overload wrote: post #58
superkuh wrote: post #33

It will be animal cells differentiated into muscle tissues on collagen scaffolds initially. The technology comes from attempts to grow functional organs (ie, liver) that are biocompatible in the body serum proper. If there aren't health effects from transplantation within the animal type you can probably eat the animal tissues just fine. It's the same thing. It's meat. It's just without the animal suffering. And hope…

For context, the life of an average herbivore in the wild consists of living with no shelter in harsh weather while having to fear every sound. And it typically ends by being ripped to pieces by a predator and eaten alive while the brain still has some residual oxygen and awareness. The typical farmed animal experience where you are sheltered, vaccinated against common illnesses, provided food and slaughtered after b…

Funny, I largely agree with you, on the other hand, if I had to choose between being "free range" or factory fed, I'd still rather take the free range option. Or as one of the other commenters put it, I'd rather be homeless and all that entails than live as somebody's slave and get food and a bed.

Animals aren't people though. I think it's important to avoid unnecessary suffering or cruelty, but it's also important to be able to eat them.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#106

Post by reb »

matrix_overload wrote: post #58
superkuh wrote: post #33

It will be animal cells differentiated into muscle tissues on collagen scaffolds initially. The technology comes from attempts to grow functional organs (ie, liver) that are biocompatible in the body serum proper. If there aren't health effects from transplantation within the animal type you can probably eat the animal tissues just fine. It's the same thing. It's meat. It's just without the animal suffering. And hope…

For context, the life of an average herbivore in the wild consists of living with no shelter in harsh weather while having to fear every sound. And it typically ends by being ripped to pieces by a predator and eaten alive while the brain still has some residual oxygen and awareness. The typical farmed animal experience where you are sheltered, vaccinated against common illnesses, provided food and slaughtered after b…

I eat meat, but I think it's fair to say bringing living/feeling/thinking things into existence for the express purpose of being killed and consumed is grim. This feels particularly true if the circumstances they're raised in are horrific, which seems to be pretty common in factory farms.

In any case, nature might be crueler to living things than we are, but I still think becoming less cruel is worth the effort.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#107

Post by photochemsyn »

Two forms of meat, the worst first:

(1) Industrial factory farmed meat, fed with crops like alfalfa/soy/corn, where the animals are injected with prophylactic antibiotics (because cramped conditions cause disease outbreaks, also a growth enhancer) and growth hormones, and/or genetically modified to promote gigantism (both applications tending to increase disease susceptibility, so more antibiotics). The meat is then processed in meatpacking production lines (highly susceptible to cross contamination, with a consumer portion of ground meat containing parts from hundreds of animals) - hey, why not gamma-irradiate it to kill off bacteria and viruses? Lots of animal torture and needless suffering to top it all off. Fairly cheap end product, however. Note this production system is not a strictly American phenomenon - Mexico's pork-export factories are the same, and there's China's 'Pig Skyscraper'

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/25/chinas-2...

(2) Essentially nomadic-style animal herding on grassland. This is the traditional method of raising animals - they mostly eat grass, or other kinds of forage, although growing crops for fodder (without use of modern pesticides and herbicides) is often part of the picture. Typical species are cows, sheep and goats. Historically, pigs were raised this way as well (more like wild boars). Chickens can be raised this way, as well. See also kobe beef cattle in Japan. The main issue is this method is low yield and high cost, i.e. the meat is expensive (but healthy, and animal suffering is very minimal, i.e. they lead decent lives up to the point of a quick slaughter). For example:

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/10/5ca39ec007e4-feat...

I have little patience with vegans who refuse to differentiate between these two types of meat production on ethical grounds. However if everything moves to the latter ethical and healthy production system, meat will be more expensive and less of a 'daily staple' - and there's nothing wrong with that dietary switch, it's better for everyone.

As far as lab-grown meat, that'll probably be even more expensive than ethically-farmed meat, and likely use even more resources (electricity for maintaining the vats at precise temperatures, specialized nutrient feedstocks, etc.), so I'm not sure what the point is.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#108

Post by hollerith »

algoatecorn wrote: post #94
rdtwo wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The finishing process changes the tase quite a bit. Some folks like the grain taste some like it grassy.

Blind taste-testing overwhelmingly favors feedlot-finished beef.

People used to eating grain-fed beef prefer grain-fed beef, yes.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#109

Post by chairhairair »

macinjosh wrote: post #76
chairhairair wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine thinking modern factory farming is anything as simple as “putting a cow in a field”.

Imagine thinking modern factory farming is the only way to go about things. It really can be as simple as putting a cow in a field with grass and water. My family has been doing it for 150 years.

It can be, but the reality is that it largely isn’t. You can refine your own iron if you’d like, but most people do not.

Re: Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

#110

Post by digbybk »

> The cost of lab-grown meat will likely be several times that of regular meat, according to Wired. Producing meat in the lab “will never be done with anything remotely like the economics you need for food,” Pat Brown, founder of the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods, told the Post last year.

Obviously he isn't an objective observer but I wonder what the argument is to back up the claim that it "will never be done with anything remotely like the economics you need for food".

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