UW-Madison researchers are developing artificial meat in a lab in an effort to find more products that replicate the texture of meat, are edible, and taste good.
MADISON, Wis. -- Several companies have shown artificial meat is indeed beyond the realm of impossibility.
Beyond and Impossible are two faux meat brands you likely see in restaurants and in stores. The quest continues to create more similar products that are edible, replicate the texture of meat, and taste good. Part of that effort is happening right here in Madison, at the University of Wisconsin.
You're in for a whopper of a disappointment when you walk into a UW-Madison lab and see no griddle going, no buns baking and not even one patty to press. Still, some day, the burger you order may have originated there.
"Particularly, we are interested in the new products and the new technologies," Masatoshi Suzuki, researcher and professor at UW-Madison, said.
The scientists in this lab are looking at ways to develop artificial meat.
Plant-based meat alternatives are huge right now, but this team is using cow and pig stem cells to cultivate meat.
"We don't need to sacrifice the animal," Suzuki said.
Suzuki's lab at UW-Madison's School of Veterinary Science is partnering with a national non-profit called the Good Food Institute. According to GFI, the goal is to expand the boundaries of meat production, and find alternatives to address concerns about food sustainability, help the environment, and feed more people.
"There are concerns associated with the kind, the meat production, such as animal welfare or ethical issues or the safety," Suzuki said.
There is a long brilliant scientific explanation of how this all works. But, for the non-scientists in the room, think of the stem cells as building blocks. Robertson says they can essentially put them together to create meat. There's another key outcome scientists want to sink their teeth into. Robertson knows how consumers may feel about current meat alternatives.
"I tried (a meatless burger). I wasn't too impressed with the taste or the texture to be honest, so thinking about how to make that way better is super exciting," Samantha Robertson, lab manager, said.
Suzuki says it's a big challenge, and it'll be a long time before you see any of the work in here hit the grocery stores or restaurants. He's quick to say there's no intention of putting traditional meat production out to pasture.
"We try to provide new options, not compete with existing markets," Suzuki said.
If and when that does happen, Robertson says it's exciting to have local UW-Madison scientists as part of the process.
"Maybe I'll be enjoying a burger on my couch that I had a part in making. That's super awesome," Robertson said.
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