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They bit, they chewed, but had hoped for more flavor.

Two volunteers who participated in the first public frying of hamburger grown in a lab said Monday that it had the texture of meat but was short of flavor because of the lack of fat.

Mark Post, whose team at Maastricht University in the Netherlands developed the burger, hopes that making meat in labs could eventually help feed the world and fight climate change. That goal is many years distant, at best.


Chef Richard McGeown cooks the world's first lab-grown beef burger during a launch event in west London.


Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, appeared on a video shown at the event and announced that he funded the 250,000-euro ($330,000) project because of his concern for animal welfare.

"I would say it's close to meat. I miss the salt and pepper," said Austrian nutritionist Hanni Ruetzler, one of the volunteer tasters. Both shunned the bun and sliced tomatoes to concentrate on the meat.

"The absence is the fat, it's a leanness to it, but the bite feels like a conventional hamburger," said U.S. journalist Josh Schonwald. He added that he had rarely tasted a hambuger, as he did on Monday, "without ketchup or onions or jalapenos or bacon."


Samples of beef including hamburger from a store (l.), cultured beef (c.), and raw beef.

Monday's taste test, coming after five years of research, is a key step toward making lab meat a culinary phenomenon. Post called it "a good start."

Brin expressed high hopes for the technology.

"We're trying to create the first cultured beef hamburger. From there I'm optimistic we can really scale by leaps and bounds," he said on the video.


Hanni Rutzler, a food researcher from Austria, tastes the world's first lab-grown beef burger.

Post said it's crucial that the burger has the "look, feel and taste like the real thing."

Despite the tasters concern about flavor, scientists say that can be tweaked.

"Taste is the least (important) problem since this could be controlled by letting some of the stem cells develop into fat cells," said Stig Omholt, director of biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Adding fat to the burgers this way would probably be healthier than getting it from naturally chunky cows, Omholt said before Monday's test. He was not involved in the project.


A hamburger made from cultured beef (r.) looks almost identical to a hamburger from a store (l.).

Post and colleagues made the meat from the muscle cells of two organic cows. The cells were put into a nutrient solution to help them develop into muscle tissue, growing into small strands of meat.

It took nearly 20,000 strands to make a single 140-gram (5-ounce) patty, which for Monday's taste test was seasoned with salt, egg powder, breadcrumbs, red beet juice and saffron.

"I'm a vegetarian, but I would be first in line to try this," said Jonathan Garlick, a stem cell researcher at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston. He has used similar techniques to make human skin but wasn't involved in the burger research.


The burger made from Cultured Beef, which has been developed by Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University, is created thusly, Post said: 'The muscle stem cells, taken by harmless biopsy from living cows, are fed and nurtured so they multiply to create muscle tissue. The cells grow into strands, and 20,000 of them get combined to create one burger'.

Experts say new ways of producing meat are needed to satisfy growing carnivorous appetites without exhausting resources. By 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization predicts global meat consumption will double as more people in developing countries can afford it. Raising animals destined for the dinner table takes up about 70 percent of all agricultural land.

The animal rights group PETA has thrown its support behind the lab-meat initiative.

"As long as there's anybody who's willing to kill a chicken, a cow or a pig to make their meal, we are all for this," said Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's president and co-founder. "Instead of the millions and billions (of animals) being slaughtered now, we could just clone a few cells to make burgers or chops."

Post and his colleagues had tasted the meat in the lab, and he said they cooked a test burger on Sunday.

"The first (lab-made) meat products are going to be very exclusive," said Isha Datar, director of New Harvest, an international nonprofit that promotes meat alternatives. "These burgers won't be in Happy Meals before someone rich and famous is eating them."

Only one patty was used for the taste test, and the testers each took less than half. Post said he would take the leftovers home and let his kids have a taste.

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RasJeph said:


Science.

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PositiveOutlook said:

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RasJeph said:


Science.

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ya i wouldnt eat lab grown meat

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This has gotta be one of the dumber ideas I've heard

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niteowl said:

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PositiveOutlook said:

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RasJeph said:


Science.

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ya i wouldnt eat lab grown meat

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This has gotta be one of the dumber ideas I've heard

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Thebooedocksaint said:
Probably healthier than McDonalds is all i'm saying.

I'd eat it if it was cheaper than normal beef.

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drawde said:
What exactly is so dumb about it?

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drawde said:
And don't give me some nonsense about it being unnatural, there is nothing natural about how cattle are raised in the modern era.

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And how many cattle farms have you been to recently???

Not seen or heard about on the fucking TV

How many actual cattle farms have you walked through???

I'd bet zero if I were a betting man.

I walk around cattle farms on a regular basis
and there is nothing 'un-natural' about how they are raised

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niteowl said:
I walk around cattle farms on a regular basis
and there is nothing 'un-natural' about how they are raised

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niteowl said:

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drawde said:
And don't give me some nonsense about it being unnatural, there is nothing natural about how cattle are raised in the modern era.

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And how many cattle farms have you been to recently???

Not seen or heard about on the fucking TV

How many actual cattle farms have you walked through???

I'd bet zero if I were a betting man.

I walk around cattle farms on a regular basis
and there is nothing 'un-natural' about how they are raised

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niteowl said:

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drawde said:
What exactly is so dumb about it?

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there are FAR better and cheaper ways to make meat
whoever financed this research needs to be shot
for the absolute waste of money this endeavor is

spend that money on educating people on how to eat right
and you would solve this 'meat shortage' instantly

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drawde said:

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niteowl said:

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drawde said:
What exactly is so dumb about it?

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there are FAR better and cheaper ways to make meat
whoever financed this research needs to be shot
for the absolute waste of money this endeavor is

spend that money on educating people on how to eat right
and you would solve this 'meat shortage' instantly

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You have compiled a cost-benefit analysis?

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drawde said:
So you have been to these feedlots that supply the majority of U.S. beef?

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niteowl said:
Have you?

I doubt it, because they don't exist

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