Is lab-grown meat worse for the environment than retail beef? What a California study shows
UC Davis researchers found that lab-grown meat is likely to leave a larger carbon footprint than retail beef, raising questions of the benefits of cultured meat production.
Bucking popular belief that lab-produced meat could be “more environmentally friendly than beef” because it’s thought to use less land, water and greenhouse gases, the preprint, not-yet-peer-reviewed study found “the global warming potential of lab-based meat is four to 25 times greater than the average for retail beef,” a Monday news release stated.
Agriculture amounts to 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
What is cultured meat?
To put it simply, cultured meat is lab-produced meat using animal cells.
Food developers can use cells from livestock, poultry seafood or any other animal in the food production process, according to the FDA.
There are currently no sales of the lab-produced meat being made in the Unites States, according to the FDA.
What are the challenges for lab-produced meat?
Researchers at UC Davis assessed environmental impacts in all stages of the lab meat production process. Methods similar to biotechnology, which are used in pharmaceuticals are being used to multiply cells.
“If companies are having to purify growth media to pharmaceutical levels, it uses more resources, which then increases global warming potential,” said Derrick Risner, UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology lead author, in the news release.
“If this product continues to be produced using the “pharma” approach, it’s going to be worse for the environment and more expensive than conventional beef production.”
The process of cell multiplication is complex, however, below is a broad overview, according to the FDA on what the process looks like:
Step 1: Scientists will take a cell sample from the tissue of an animal or fish.
Step 2: The cell is then taken from a cell bank and placed in a controlled and monitored environment, where it can multiply.
Step 3: Once the cell has multiplied many times over, proteins are added to produce muscle and fat characteristics.
Step 4: Once the cell has developed it can be harvested and prepared conventionally.
What’s next?
The industry has its eyes toward using food-grade ingredients for a lower carbon footprint, but it’s not guaranteed to be better for the environment.
To achieve a truly more environmentally-friendly meat, researchers said, it would take significant technological advancement.
The study suggests “that investments to advance more climate-friendly beef production may yield greater reductions in emissions more quickly than investments in cultured meat.”
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