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Should cultured meat be labeled identically to traditional meat?
Dec 15, 2021


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HomeLivestockShould cultured meat be labeled identically to traditional meat?


SHOULD CULTURED MEAT BE LABELED IDENTICALLY TO TRADITIONAL MEAT?

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Firn/Getty Images
CONSUMER INPUT WANTED: USDA is asking consumers whether it matters where the
cells that make up your steak were grown if the end product is the same.
USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service is asking consumers for their thoughts.

Kris DeAngelo | Dec 15, 2021

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Is a rib-eye still a rib-eye if it’s made in a factory instead of on a farm?
Although meat and poultry have up to this point been products of animals born,
raised and slaughtered, new technologies are challenging that paradigm. 

Now cells can be grown or cultured in nutrients and harvested as food. Enter
cultured meat, bio meat, clean meat, in-vitro meat, cell-based meat, artificial
meat, fake meat, slaughter-free meat or lab meat. The question is, does it
matter to you, the consumer, where the actual cells that make up your steak were
grown, and should we label them differently?

The concept of cultured meat has been around since 1931, with Winston Churchill
predicting the industry would move away from the “absurdity of growing a whole
chicken in order to eat a breast or wing.” The vision has become a reality.
Industry has been able to transform the creation of beef, lamb, goat, pork,
chicken and various species of fish. And in the future, it claims it will create
cell-based shrimp, breast milk and foie gras, in addition to making blends of
these meats with plant-based proteins.

Consumers, traditional meat producers and emerging meat producers continue to
spar over what to call this new technology meat. The U.S. government has joined
the naming and labeling battle, and it wants consumer and industry input. The
question is, are these cultured cells the same as traditional cells, and
therefore should the government permit identical labeling, or does the
methodology of growing and harvesting necessitate an alternate naming scheme?

You might be asking “What’s the beef?” Why deliberate about a name?  But the
debate regarding naming is similar to that of the cattle carcass trimmings that
are heated to separate the fat, and hit with ammonium gas to create lean finely
textured beef or LFTB, objectionably known as pink slime, which was found to
meet the regulatory definition of ground beef and is now permitted to be labeled
as such. 

Now, when LFTB is added to ground beef, you would never know by looking at the
label. But should cultured meat be labeled identically to traditional meat? Or
do the benefits and costs require or permit differences? Those that advocate for
cultured meat claim numerous benefits that are sometimes difficult to quantify.


CULTURED MEAT BENEFITS

Most often cited is the fact that the demand for animal-based food is increasing
at an alarming rate, estimates of an 80% increase from 2006 to 2050, with demand
for beef increasing by 95%. The amount of pastureland, water and other natural
resources needed to grow these entire animals for food is grossly
disproportionate to the number of calories produced. 

Cultured meat would fill the need while reducing the environmental impact.
Similarly, without the need for entire animals, ancillary use of pesticides,
fungicides and fertilizers for crops decrease. In addition, cultured meat
eliminates much of the discussion regarding animal welfare issues of living on
factory farms in close confinement, the subsequent use of vaccinations and
antibiotics to reduce disease outbreaks, as well as the possibility of zoonotic
pandemics.

Likewise, cultured meat eliminates potential pathogenic contamination from
microbes living in animal intestines such as E. coli, salmonella and
campylobacter during slaughter. It also lacks the bacteria found in the
digestive tract, which create transfats. Ultimately, cultured meat offers
socially conscious consumers a way to feel good about their food choices without
requiring a change in diet, the ultimate “having a steak and eating it too.”


CULTURED MEAT DRAWBACKS

Opponents to cultured meat argue it will negatively affect farmers, ranchers,
processors, transporters and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries
financially. They disagree that less resources will be used in the production of
cultured meat, because animals eat plants that convert energy from the sun,
while bioreactors need their own input for cultured meat to grow. 

Moreover, cultured meat technology has focused on muscle cells, but continues to
struggle to incorporate fat cells, blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue,
which alter the taste, mouth feel, juiciness, nutrition and appearance. 

One vitamin in particular, B12, which is a product of specific bacteria that
colonize the intestines, would be absent. Difficulties also arise when
attempting to create various cuts of meat from various anatomical locations, a
chuck roast versus a tenderloin. Likewise, opponents argue the various types of
cells used are difficult to obtain, difficult to keep dividing, and sensitive to
changes in the culture media. Also, the favored culture media is fetal bovine
serum, otherwise known as calf blood, which is unacceptable to vegetarians and
seemingly unpalatable.

These consumer perceptions and acceptance issues will be difficult to overcome.
Various studies are conflicting in terms of whether the technology of cultured
meat will be able to overcome notions of unnaturalness, health concerns, food
safety and price. The arguments for and against are just the tip of the naming
dilemma, because the goal in a name is to inform consumers about the nature of
the product.


CONSUMER INPUT WANTED

USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service is asking for consumer and industry input
on naming these various meat products. The goal is to collect information to
enable USDA to promulgate regulations for labeling these products that are based
on science, as well as consumer and industry input. 

Ultimately these regulations will provide guidance to industry so that it can
create labels that are not false or misleading in any particular pursuant to
current law. Be part of the decision-making process before the products are on
your table. Visit regulations.gov to read more about the request and click
comment on the left side of the page. 

Kris DeAngelo is an attorney and educator with MSU's Institute for Food Laws and
Regulations. 

TAGS: USDA
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