“Novel foods or novel food ingredients have no history of ‘significant’ consumption in the European Union prior to Regulation (EC) No. 258 of 15 May 1997,” according to Wikipedia. In fact, the novel foods sector is one that might just contribute to the salvation of the entire human race. Based on the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), global food production needs to increase by 70% to feed the 2.3 billion extra people that will inhabit the Earth by 2050. They’ll also be healthier, more complete sources of nourishment. Created in laboratories and supplemented with required nutrients (protein, vitamins etc.) or prepared with substances that are edible but that we may not tolerate yet, these foodstuffs are definitely more closely controlled and tailored to fit our nutritional requirements.

The growing consumption of meat is one of the most pressing environmental problems for us to tackle in the coming years. Intensive farming has had a negative impact on the planet due to amount of greenhouse gas emissions it generates, while the large quantity of animal waste that needs to be disposed of can pollute land and groundwater. On top of that, it takes 100 grams of vegetable protein in order to produce 15 grams of meat, while the widespread – and sometimes reckless – use of antibiotics in livestock could lead to the rise of resistant bacteria.

Synthetic meat

The solution may lie in synthetic meat, which we will start to eat by 2021. Californian start-up Memphis Meats has raised $17 million to develop the new product by that date, with backers including Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Kimbal Musk and companies such as Google. Synthetic meat is created in labs via a process based around extracting and cultivating cells. First of all, samples of muscle tissue from ducks, chickens and cows are harvested and then grown on special scaffolds, until enough tissue has formed to create a meatball or hamburger. The muscular fibres grow thanks to the addition of foetal bovine serum, which allows the cells to multiply. The technique has been perfected in recent years, with many companies beginning to work in the area since the development of the first synthetic beef burger was created in 2013.

But how much of this “test tube” meat can we actually produce? Well, just one gram of cow muscle tissue can generate 10,000 kilos of beef – that’s a ratio of one to 10 million (source: MosaMeat). Looking at it from another angle, in order produce one “clean” hamburger (made up of 10 billion cells), the process currently takes ten weeks. But given that cell multiplication is an exponential process, two hamburgers would take ten weeks plus 30 hours, with the yield rising to a huge 100,000 burgers in just 12 weeks.

Vegetable-based meat

There are more and more similarities developing between vegan proteins and the “synthetic meat” alternative. In 2011, Pat Brown – a biochemist from the University of Stanford – founded a start-up with the aim of creating a product that delivered all the characteristics of real meat, from flavour to smell via consistency. The company spent five years on development, during which time the neuroscientists established the exact aroma and consistency of the real thing. The experience had to be completely identical, with all five senses used to fool the brain. Sure enough, Beyond Meat’s “meat-free” burger is entirely made from vegetable-based products and has the same texture and flavour as real beef. Quite simply, Beyond Meat’s research has led to the development of a meat-free product that has the exact appearance, flavour, succulence, smell and consistency of beef.

Beyond Burger’s product is extremely high in protein and is as rich in iron as conventional beef. It’s suitable both for vegans and for those who love meat but would like to take steps to reduce their impact on the environment and improve their health.