What role for lab-grown meat?
“Cellular agriculture”: current gaps between facts and claims regarding “cell-based meat”.
A 2019 RethinkX report predicted that the US meat and dairy industries would go bankrupt by 2030 due to the emergence of ‘cellular agriculture.’ This is clearly not happening because significant technical challenges are preventing the technology’s commercial viability. Despite billions invested and hundreds of start-ups in the field, cellular agriculture faces hurdles like high production costs and regulatory issues (for instance, due to Europe’s regulations on genetically modified organisms).
The cost of goods, especially for precision fermentation, remains a major barrier. Cell-based protein production is still not economically feasible, as it requires further advances in bioreactor technology and culture media. Currently, only one lab-based food product is registered in Singapore. Without established production protocols, claims about the nutritional and environmental benefits of cell-based products are unverified. Moreover, “cell-based meat” is not legally considered ‘meat’ by US and European definitions, as it does not match conventional nutrient compositions and qualities.
Cellular agriculture also lacks the ecosystem benefits of traditional livestock farming and could exacerbate global inequality by creating luxury foods controlled by multinational corporations. In addition, consumer acceptance is often overestimated, with many willing to try cell-based products but not eating them regularly. Rural consumers particularly express concerns about its unnaturalness and impact on traditional farming.
With the long-term health, safety, environmental, and market impacts of cell-based products still being unclear, cellular agriculture technology does not seem to be a viable option for the foreseeable future.
See the full Paper by Paul Wood, Lieven Thorrez, Jean-François Hocquette, Declan Troy, Mohammed Gagaoua, “Cellular agriculture”: current gaps between facts and claims regarding “cell-based meat” | Animal Frontiers | Oxford Academic (oup.com)