In about 5 years, we will give up real meat and start eating artificial. In the United States, so-called "test tube meat" has already received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and burgers with it are already on sale at Burger King. Artificial meat is being developed not only in the United States, but also in Russia - for two years this has been the work of the Ochakovo Food Ingredients Plant (OKPI). In the end, they got a cutlet made of artificial mince weighing 40 grams and costing 900 thousand rubles. The plant's representatives told how the artificial meat was obtained and how much it will cost in the future.
At the moment, most artificial meat producers create it from plant materials. For example, the American startup Impossible Foods in early 2019 introduced the world to a burger with meat made from soy protein, a herbaceous plant that is also used to make milk, butter and other products. The Russian plant chose a different option for meat production and literally raised a large piece of meat from a tiny piece of muscle tissue from an elite Aberdeen Angus calf.
Aberdeen Angus cow.
How is artificial meat made?
The plant representatives noted that the muscle tissue was taken under anesthesia, that is, the calf did not feel any pain. Further, this tissue was placed in a nutrient medium, which is a gel of amino acids, vitamins, salts and other components. In this environment, the cells of a tiny piece of veal began to grow and divide, as a result of which the combine was able to present an expensive, but nutritious and harmless to humans cutlet. So, at least, the representatives of the plant told.
"Test tubes" in which meat was grown.
Promotional video:
How much does artificial meat cost?
They also shared that Russian cultured meat could go on sale as early as 2023. True, only on condition that the authorities take an example from other countries and allow its sale. At first, the artificial product will cost more than the real one - the cost of a kilogram of meat will be about 5.8 thousand rubles. The price of artificial meat should go down sometime by 2028 and amount to about 800 rubles per kilogram. Sounds good, doesn't it?
First of all, the cost will be reduced by using the domestic nutrient medium in which the meat is grown. At the moment, the plant uses a Swiss-made environment, a liter of which costs 1.5-3 million rubles. The Russian product, in turn, will cost 300 rubles per liter, and the cell growth rate, according to the plant's representatives, will not be lower than when using a Swiss-made environment.
The plant promises a lot, but we can only hope that the cost of artificial meat will someday really be reduced. It is also very interesting what Russian artificial meat will taste like - one of our authors has already shared his impressions of the burger of the American company Impossible Burger and was very pleased.
Ramis Ganiev
