World?s first test-tube burger to be served in London this week

Could a burger made from artificial meat be the next generation of prime beef patties?

The world?s first 5-ounce test-tube burger, made of meat grown in a laboratory, will be served up in London this week, according to a report by The Independent.

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The burger costs more than $380,000 to make, composed of 3,000 tiny strips of meat grown from the stem cells of one cow.

?Right now, we are using 70% of all our agricultural capacity to grow meat through livestock,? professor Mark Post of Maastricht University in Holland told ?The Independent.? ?You are going to need alternatives. If we don?t do anything, meat will become a luxury food and will become very expensive.?

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Developers hope to meet the increasing global demand for protein and minimize the need for herds of cattle with a four-step process used to turn stems cells from animal flesh into burgers.

First, the stem cells are stripped from the cow?s muscle and then incubated until they multiply to create a sticky tissue. The muscle cells are then grown under tension and stretched. Finally, the lab-grown meat and animal fat are minced and turned into burgers.

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The process could take up to six weeks to get from stem cell to supermarket shelves, but before it can be commercialized, the Food Standards Agency must provide information showing the process is safe for public consumption and has a nutritional value equivalent to regular meat.

For now, the battle may just be turning the public onto the idea of eating the artificial patty.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/life-style/eats/~3/SzcEXTu9Mrs/story01.htm

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