REVIEW

published: 07 February 2020

doi: 10.3389/fnut.2020.00007

The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review

Sghaier Chriki 1* and Jean-François Hocquette 2*
1
ISARA, Agroecology and Environment Unit, Lyon, France, 2 INRAE, University of Clermont Auvergne, Vetagro Sup, UMR
Herbivores, Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France

To satisfy the increasing demand for food by the growing human population, cultured
meat (also called in vitro, artificial or lab-grown meat) is presented by its advocates
as a good alternative for consumers who want to be more responsible but do not
wish to change their diet. This review aims to update the current knowledge on this
subject by focusing on recent publications and issues not well described previously.
The main conclusion is that no major advances were observed despite many new
publications. Indeed, in terms of technical issues, research is still required to optimize
cell culture methodology. It is also almost impossible to reproduce the diversity of meats
derived from various species, breeds and cuts. Although these are not yet known, we
speculated on the potential health benefits and drawbacks of cultured meat. Unlike
conventional meat, cultured muscle cells may be safer, without any adjacent digestive
organs. On the other hand, with this high level of cell multiplication, some dysregulation
Edited by:
Dietrich Knorr, is likely as happens in cancer cells. Likewise, the control of its nutritional composition
Technische Universität is still unclear, especially for micronutrients and iron. Regarding environmental issues,
Berlin, Germany
the potential advantages of cultured meat for greenhouse gas emissions are a matter
Reviewed by:
Marcia Dutra De Barcellos, of controversy, although less land will be used compared to livestock, ruminants in
Federal University of Rio Grande Do particular. However, more criteria need to be taken into account for a comparison with
Sul, Brazil
current meat production. Cultured meat will have to compete with other meat substitutes,
Daniel Cozzolino,
University of Queensland, Australia especially plant-based alternatives. Consumer acceptance will be strongly influenced by
Joe M. Regenstein, many factors and consumers seem to dislike unnatural food. Ethically, cultured meat
Cornell University, United States
aims to use considerably fewer animals than conventional livestock farming. However,
*Correspondence:
Sghaier Chriki some animals will still have to be reared to harvest cells for the production of in vitro meat.
schriki@isara.fr Finally, we discussed in this review the nebulous status of cultured meat from a religious
Jean-François Hocquette
point of view. Indeed, religious authorities are still debating the question of whether in
jean-francois.hocquette@inrae.fr
vitro meat is Kosher or Halal (e.g., compliant with Jewish or Islamic dietary laws).
Specialty section:
Keywords: cultured meat, in vitro meat, muscle cells, livestock farming, consumer perception, vegetarian, ethics
This article was submitted to
Nutrition and Food Science
Technology,
a section of the journal INTRODUCTION: CONTEXT OF ANIMAL FARMING TODAY
Frontiers in Nutrition
The global population, 7.3 billion today, is expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050. The Food and
Received: 26 October 2019
Agriculture Organization (FAO) has forecast that in 2050, 70% more food will be needed to fulfill
Accepted: 20 January 2020
Published: 07 February 2020 the demand of the growing population, which is a great challenge due to resource and arable land
limitations. Even if meat consumption is decreasing in developed countries, its global consumption
Citation:
Chriki S and Hocquette J-F (2020)
is increasing because consumers are generally unwilling to reduce their meat consumption, in
The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review. particular in developing countries such as in China, India, and Russia (1). These populations
Front. Nutr. 7:7. becoming more middle-class, they are looking for more luxury products, such as meat or other
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2020.00007 animal products (e.g., cheese, dairy products).

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

Livestock systems will contribute to addressing the issue of Throughout this process, the cells are kept in a monitored
global food and nutrition security in the world (2). Animal environment that replicates the temperature inside the body of a
farming must produce larger quantities of high quality and cow, for example, to speed up the development of the lab-grown
affordable meat, milk, and eggs, through production systems meat (17, 18).
that are environmentally sound, socially responsible, and One initial problem with this type of culture is the serum used,
economically viable (3). Despite the wide range of economic, as in vitro meat aims to be slaughter-free. So it is contradictory
environmental, cultural and social services at local, regional, to use a medium made from the blood of dead calves. In
and global levels provided by livestock farming (4), a significant addition, this serum is expensive and affects to a large extent
proportion of livestock is raised nowadays within the factory the production cost of the meat. One of the main goals of the
farming model. Despite a lower contribution to greenhouse gases laboratory start-ups (about 25–30) as of this writing, scattered
(GHG) and water usage than extensive agriculture, factor farming over the globe and working on cultured meat is to find a cheaper
is mainly focused on efficiency (i.e., the quantity of milk or meat medium derived from plant ingredients and as efficient as FBS.
produced) rather than on other services and impacts such as Apparently (from personal communications), this problem has
interaction with the environment, climate change, less use of been solved, at least in research prototypes to produce cultured
antibiotics, animal welfare, or sustainability (5–8). meat. Once this problem has been solved on an industrial scale
As a consequence, more efficient ways of protein production (and it is likely to be solved), in vitro meat could become
are being developed to sustain the growing global population competitive in terms of production costs and animal ethics
while complying with today’s challenges, such as environmental compared to regular meat from livestock. In addition to FBS,
and animal welfare issues (9). Among the solutions, cultured antibiotics and fungicides have been commonly used to avoid
meat is presented by its advocates as a sustainable alternative contamination of cell cultures. All the start-ups claim that this
for consumers who want to be more responsible but do not problem has also been solved.
wish to change the composition of their diet (10–13). The However, as farm animals, like all mammals including
history of cultured meat was detailed by Hamdan et al. (14), humans, naturally produce hormones and growth factors to
and a bibliometric analysis of publications about this subject sustain their own growth, cell culture needs hormones, growth
was carried out by Fernandes et al. (15). Indeed, since the factors, etc., in the culture medium to sustain cell proliferation
first publication about cultured meat in 2008, the number of and differentiation. The research questions are now: how can
publications increased considerably (89% of the total) after 2013. these compounds be produced on an industrial scale, and
In August of that same year, the first hamburger produced how can be ensured that none of them will have negative
with cultured meat was prepared and tasted on a television effects on human health in the short and long term? This
program (16). is an important issue since hormone growth promoters are
prohibited in farming systems for conventional meat production
in the European Union (unlike in some other parts of
THE PRODUCTION OF CULTURED MEAT
the world).
Pros and Cons of the Culture Process Finally, we are still far away from real muscle, which is made
The objective of this process is to recreate the complex structure up of organized fibers, blood vessels, nerves, connective tissue
of livestock muscles with a few cells. A biopsy is taken from a and fat cells (19–21). This is why the different start-ups working
live animal. This piece of muscle will be cut to liberate the stem in this area have developed different strategies: some of them
cells, which have the ability to proliferate but can also transform work with stem cells or muscle cells to reproduce unorganized
themselves into different types of cells, such as muscle cells and muscle fibers, which is the simplest approach, while others are
fat cells (16). trying to reproduce thin slices of muscles (i.e., muscle fibers and
The cells will start to divide after they are cultured in other cell types quite well imbricated together). Nevertheless,
an appropriate culture medium, which will provide nutrients, the production of a thick piece of meat like a real steak is
hormones and growth factors. The best medium is known to still a dream, due to the necessity of perfusing oxygen inside
contain fetal bovine serum (FBS), a serum made from the blood the meat to mimic the diffusion of oxygen as it occurs in
of a dead calf, which is going to be rate-limiting, and not real tissue.
acceptable for vegetarians nor vegans. More than one trillion cells In addition, it is difficult to imagine that laboratory meat
can be grown, and these cells naturally merge to form myotubes producers will be in a position in the near future to offer
which are no longer than 0.3 mm; the myotubes are then placed consumers a wide range of meats reflecting the diversity of
in a ring growing into a small piece of muscle tissue as described animal muscles or cuts. Indeed, the sensory quality (i.e., flavor)
in different reviews (17, 18). This piece of muscle can multiply of meat differs across species (pork, poultry, ovines, bovines,
up to more than a trillion strands (13). These fibers are attached etc), and within a species, between breeds, genders, animal
to a sponge-like scaffold that floods the fibers with nutrients types (i.e., young bulls, steers, heifers, and cows in the case
and mechanically stretches them, “exercising” the muscle cells of bovines), farming conditions (depending for instance on
to increase their size and protein content (17, 18). Based on breeding location), and mainly between muscles with a different
this process, fewer animals will be necessary to produce huge anatomic location (22). So, many complex processes still need
amounts of meat due to cell proliferation, thereby avoiding killing to be controlled to make in vitro meat more attractive to
as too many animals but potentially lots of calves if FBS is consumers as it is more or less the case for any other new
still used. food product.

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

Health and Safety way they are organized in cultured cells could potentiate the
Advocates of in vitro meat claim that it is safer than conventional positive effects of micronutrients on human health. Uptake of
meat, based on the fact that lab-grown meat is produced in micronutrients (such as iron) by cultured cells has thus to be
an environment fully controlled by researchers or producers, well understood. We cannot exclude a reduction in the health
without any other organism, whereas conventional meat is part benefits of micronutrients due to the culture medium, depending
of an animal in contact with the external world, although each on its composition. And adding chemicals to the medium makes
tissue (including muscles) is protected by the skin and/or by cultured meat more “chemical” food with less of a clean label.
mucosa. Indeed, without any digestive organs nearby (despite
the fact that conventional meat is generally protected from this),
and therefore without any potential contamination at slaughter, Comparison of Environmental Impact With
cultured muscle cells do not have the same opportunity to Conventional Farming
encounter intestinal pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella or Generally speaking, the production of cultured meat is presented
Campylobacter (10), three pathogens that are responsible for as environmentally friendly, because it is supposed to produce
millions of episodes of illness each year (19). However, we can less GHG (which is a matter of controversy), consume less water
argue that scientists or manufacturers are never in a position and use less land (this point being obvious) in comparison
to control everything and any mistake or oversight may have to conventional meat production (13, 24, 25), from ruminants
dramatic consequences in the event of a health problem. This particularly. However, this type of comparison is incomplete and
occurs frequently nowadays during industrial production of sometimes biased or at least, partial as discussed below.
chopped meat. Regarding GHG, it is true that livestock, mainly ruminants
Another positive aspect related to the safety of cultured meat is (i.e., cattle), are responsible for a significant proportion of world
that it is not produced from animals raised in a confined space, so GHG emissions, in large part due to methane emissions from
that the risk of an outbreak is eliminated and there is no need for the digestive tracts of herbivores. As such, reducing methane
costly vaccinations against diseases like influenza. On the other emissions (one of the most potent GHG) is presented as one
hand, we can argue that it is the cells, not the animals, which of the more important potential benefits of in vitro meat over
live in high numbers in incubators to produce cultured meat. conventional livestock farming. Cattle farming is, as well-known,
Unfortunately, we do not know all the consequences of meat associated with the emission of three GHG [especially methane
culture for public health, as in vitro meat is a new product. Some (CH4 ), but also carbon dioxide (CO2 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O)].
authors argue that the process of cell culture is never perfectly On the contrary, emissions by cultured meat are mainly CO2
controlled and that some unexpected biological mechanisms may due to fossil energy use to warm cultured cells. Nevertheless, in
occur. For instance, given the great number of cell multiplications carbon equivalent, there is no consensus about GHG emissions
taking place, some dysregulation of cell lines is likely to occur of lab-grown meat compared to conventional meat: a first study
as happens in cancer cells, although we can imagine that gave an advantage to cultured meat (25) whereas a second study
deregulated cell lines can be eliminated for production or was inconclusive (26).
consumption. This may have unknown potential effects on the In a recent study, Lynch et al. (24) concluded that global
muscle structure and possibly on human metabolism and health warming will be less with cultured meat than with cattle initially,
when in vitro meat is consumed (21). but not in the long term because CH4 does not accumulate as
Antibiotic resistance is known as one of the major problems so long in the atmosphere unlike CO2 . In some cases, cattle
facing livestock (7). In comparison, cultured meat is kept in a systems are characterized by a greater peak warming compared
controlled environment and close monitoring can easily stop to in vitro meat. However, their warming effect will decline and
any sign of infection. Nevertheless, if antibiotics are added will be stabilized with the new emission rates of cattle systems.
to prevent any contamination, even occasionally to stop early On the other hand, warming due to the long-lived CO2 gas
contamination and illness, this argument is less convincing. from in vitro meat will persist. It will even increase with a
Moreover, it has been suggested that the nutritional content low meat consumption, being even higher than that of cattle
of cultured meat can be controlled by adjusting fat composites production in some cases. They concluded that the potential
used in the medium of production. Indeed, the ratio between advantage of cultured meat over cattle regarding GHG emissions
saturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids can be easily is not obvious.
controlled. Saturated fats can be replaced by other types of Otherwise, some scientists (27) demonstrated that
fats, such as omega-3, but the risk of higher rancidity has to conventional beef production systems in the USA (finished
be controlled. However, new strategies have been developed to in feedlots with growth-enhancing technology), produce less
increase the content of omega-3 fatty acids in meat using current GHG emissions, and require the fewest animals, water, and
livestock farming systems (23). In addition, no strategy has been land, with a relatively low carbon footprint to produce beef,
developed to endow cultured meat with certain micronutrients compared to a -fed systems. Indeed, with the shortest time
specific to animal products (such as vitamin B12 and iron) interval from birth to slaughter, conventional systems require
and which contribute to good health. Furthermore, the positive less maintenance energy.
effect of any (micro)nutrient can be enhanced if it is introduced So, the respective impacts of cattle and cultured meat will
in an appropriate matrix. In the case of in vitro meat, it depend on the availability of systems for energy generation and
is not certain that the other biological compounds and the of production systems that will be in place.

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

Regarding water consumption, it is claimed in the media that of the world’s rural communities. Livestock produce not only
15,000 L of fresh water are necessary to produce 1 kg of beef. In meat, milk, and eggs, but also wool, fiber, and leather. They also
reality, 95% of this amount of water is used for the growth of provide socio-cultural services including tourist events such as
crops, plants and forages to feed animals. Much of this water is transhumance, and products with a local image and sense of
not saved if farm animals are removed from pastures and land. terroir such as Protected Designation of Origin cheeses and other
Thus, different methods give wildly different results for the same products (4, 31).
livestock product. It is now accepted that the production of 1 kg
of beef will require 550–700 L of water as reviewed some years MARKET AND LEGISLATION
ago (28, 29). This reference point is important for the comparison
of water requirements for the production of cultured meat. A recent review (34) detailed (i) the market for cultured meat,
Unfortunately, the comparison was unfair because it was on and (ii) identified key consumer, political, and regulatory issues
15,000 L. It should be based on 550–700 L. One other issue is the for cultured meat.
quality of water, which may be not so good from cultured meat
factories, if we consider the activities of the chemical industry Market
for the production of the growth factors and hormones required The first in vitro hamburger was made in 2013 after 2 years
for cell culture. Indeed, waste and spillage of chemical products in development, by Professor Mark Post from Maastricht
could occur and these products may be in water discharged into University. The price of this innovation was more than $300,000
the environment by meat incubators, which is, however, unlikely in 2013. This high cost was explained by the fact that Professor
to occur in highly controlled circumstances. Post used products and compounds (such as hormones and
Regarding land, it is obvious that cultured meat will need nutrients) traditionally used in medical science. Soon after the
less land than conventional meat production, largely based on presentation of this innovation, Professor Post received further
pasture. However, this does not equate to an advantage for investments and founded a team of researchers to develop in
cultured meat. Indeed, livestock plays a key role in maintaining vitro meat within a new start-up called Mosa Meat. Today, he
soil carbon content and soil fertility, as manure from livestock is suggesting that in 2021, the same hamburger will be worth
is a source of organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus. around US$9, which is still expensive compared to the regular
Furthermore, while it is true that the production of feed for hamburger at $1 (35). Furthermore, Mosa Meat has recently
farm animals requires 2.5 billion ha of land (i.e., about 50% of announced the development of serum-free medium according
the global agriculture area), 1.3 billion ha (of land used for feed to their website’s FAQ (36). No cultured meat has yet to reach
production) corresponds to non-arable grasslands, useable for the stores’ shelves and the project needs more research to lower
livestock only (30). its price.
Land use is a distorted and unfair comparison between Livestock farmers are worried about the steady progress made
cultured meat and conventional meat. Indeed, in this type of by the aforementioned research. Indeed, the potentially effortless
comparison, authors do not take into account the diversity of and low-cost production of in vitro meat is supposed to make
environmental services and impacts of livestock farming systems it more economical than regular meat. Moreover, the issue of
(not only GHG emissions and water use, but also carbon storage spoilage and of pathogens are different between cultured meat
and biodiversity of plants and of animals as well) (4, 31). and conventional meat: keeping contamination out of cultured
meat is going to be a challenge when manufacturing is scaled up
Comparison of Welfare Issues With and one is using a factory and not a laboratory.
Conventional Farming Among the solutions, cultured meat is presented as a good
Animal welfare is a major focus of concern in some parts of alternative (37, 38) for consumers who want to be more
our modern society. For example, Mark Post observed that there responsible but do not wish to change the composition of their
is an increasing trend of awareness of animal welfare among diet (10–13).
the Western community (16). Therefore, there are some animal A recent survey shows that a potential consumer of cultured
defenders who can readily accept the concept of cultured meat meat (which is in development) is described as a young, highly
and some have labeled cultured meat as “victimless meat” (32). educated meat consumer, who is a little familiar with in vitro meat
Despite the fact that the process of cultured meat needs muscle and willing to reduce their slaughtered meat consumption (39).
samples from animals, the number of slaughtered animals can be Due to the rise in demand for protein analogs, cultured
reduced significantly (33). meat sales may increase in the near future (34). Indeed, some
However, nowadays, issues of animal welfare concern mainly researchers consider this new meat as a vegetarian product—
cattle feedlots and pig and poultry industrial production good news for the expanding number of consumers who are
units. Indeed, with their very high animal concentrations and incorporating more vegetarian and vegan choices into their
associated economies of scale, such industrial units also compete diets (40, 41).
strongly with smallholder farms, which are declining worldwide. For example, Informa Agribusiness Intelligence estimates that
In addition, if livestock are removed and replaced with by 2021, UK sales of meat analogs will grow by 25% and
cultured meat, a number of livestock services will be lost. milk alternatives by 43%; such growth will take the total UK
Indeed, livestock farming systems perform numerous functions: sales of milk alternatives from £149 million (US $208 million)
besides supplying proteins for human nutrition, livestock provide to £299 million (US$400 million) (34). In fact, cultured meat
income for rural populations and thus support a large part start-ups, as well as farmhouse cheesemakers and charcuterie

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

producers, will have a wide range of opportunities to create their

own product version, leading to additional brand diversity and
competitiveness in the market, as well as engaging in higher
skilled jobs in a new knowledge economy (34).
In addition, different studies have shown that acceptance
of cultured meat will vary substantially across cultures (42),
between gender (43) and depending on the amount of provided
information about cultured meat (43). Moreover, as said
previously, cultured meat is one of the solutions presented as a
good alternative for consumers who want to be more responsible,
but do not wish to change the composition of their diet.
As with any food product, consumers will not be willing
to accept any compromises in terms of food safety or indeed
to compromise much on taste or other attributes (42). Indeed,
consumers are still highly influenced by the sensory quality of
meat. Thus, plant-based meat alternatives have been developing
and have improved a lot in terms of sensory traits in recent
years, because a lot of progress has been made in mimicking real FIGURE 1 | Degree of social-institutional and technological change required
meat. Therefore, with high sensory/organoleptic quality, these for meat alternatives. Adapted from Van der Weele et al. (38).

meat substitutes should not be considered as an intermediate step

leading to the acceptance and greater consumption of artificial
meat. Indeed, sales of meat analogs made from plant-based
“FoodTech” industry) will need to be competitive and sustainable
proteins and mycoproteins may increase more than cultured
and in keeping with consumption habits and cultural models.
meat in the near future. These meat substitutes are holding an
Indeed, cultured meat requires a high degree of technological
important market share (19, 43), especially in light of the fact
change, which may compromise a rise in its consumption. On the
that $16 billion was invested in start-ups and companies offering
other hand, plant-based proteins are present in some products
vegetable meat substitutes ($673 million in 2018), which is much
that are already commercialized. Some existing protein sources
more than investments in start-ups working on cultured meat
are either well accepted (beef, pork, meat from poultry, crops,
(about 100 to 200 million since 2015). Therefore, some scientists
etc.), whereas others are much less consumed or accepted (such
consider that cultured meat is already obsolete since progress in
as meat from horses, guinea pigs etc.), despite their consumption
plant-based meat alternatives is already well advanced (44).
in some countries.
Furthermore, the meat industry of the future will undoubtedly
be more complex than the meat industry today, with a greater
number of meat products or meat substitutes on the market Legislation
coming from different sources or processes (19, 43). All protein A small but important body of literature exists on the regulation
sources inherently contain both drawbacks and advantages that of cultured meat, with Schneider (48) considering regulation in
will affect their ability to be commercialized and accepted the United States and Petetin (49) considering regulation in the
by consumers (43). For new products to be successful, they European Union (34).
must be commercially viable alternatives to conventional meat In terms of status, in vitro meat stands at the frontier between
production. The success of cultured meat as an alternative, meat and non-meat. In April 2018, France had already banned
substitute or complement to conventional meat will play an the use of meat- and dairy-related words to designate vegetarian
important role, because consumers are likely to refer to products and vegan products. The use of the word “meat” for in vitro meat
with similar positioning in the market (38, 42, 45). Indeed, if has not been decided yet (50). Livestock farmers in the US are
the palatability issues are solved (which is the case today with backing a new law in Missouri, which states that for a product to
at least some plant-based meats) and if meat substitutes are be called “meat,” it has to come from a real animal as indicated
competitive in terms of price, consumers will be more open in most dictionaries. Furthermore, meat scientists differentiate
to changing their purchasing habits (43, 46, 47). However, the between “muscle” and “meat,” with the latter being the result of
most technologically challenging alternatives to meat also require a natural biological process of muscle aging after slaughter due
moderate to high degrees of social-institutional change (38). A to the cessation of oxygen supply to muscle cells (51). Should
recent study conducted by Van der Weele et al. (38) demonstrates “cultured meat” be called meat? If not, should in vitro meat still
that cultured meat and plant-based meat alternatives both require be regulated in the same way as regular meat? (52).
a moderate degree of social-institutional change (from the It is likely that the response on regulation will take time,
current Western dietary patterns), even if they don’t require and it is possible that the definition of “meat” will vary between
the same degree of technological change, given that, unlike countries. The Cattle Council of Australia CEO, Margo Andrae,
cultured meat, some plant-based products are already being is already warning “cultured meat companies” to avoid repeating
commercialized (Figure 1). In brief, to be successful, new beef a battle over terms as happened with “milk” and “dairy”; her view
products (either from the conventional beef industry or from the is that it should “be called what it is, which is lab-grown protein”

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

(50). Furthermore, the various start-ups have clearly different In a recent survey, Bryant et al. (58) asked participants
strategies based on marketing choices, with some of them calling from the USA, India and China about their willingness to
the product “animal protein” and others “artificial meat.” The try occasionally or to buy cultured meat regularly, to eat
former are driven by the will to tell the truth to consumers, the cultured meat instead of conventional meat or plant-based meat
latter by a desire to be provocative in order to increase consumer substitutes. Willingness to try or to eat cultured meat was quite
interest (43). high: 64.6% of the participants being willing to try it, and 49.1%
willing to buy it regularly and eat it instead of conventional
PUBLIC PERCEPTION meat (48.5%). The authors interpreted those results in favor of
cultured meat, saying that this “indicates a substantial potential
How consumers perceive and accept or reject cultured meat is market for cultured meat” with the consequences that cultured
largely a matter of controversy (42, 53). meat could replace a significant amount of conventional meat
according to Bryant et al. (58). However, this contradicts the
Consumer Perception results of a survey by Hocquette et al. (60), who found that the
Advocates of cultured meat are concerned that the name could majority of more educated consumers from different countries
put off consumers, with possible connotations of a product that is will not buy cultured meat regularly although one-third of the
“fake.” Indeed, the lack of consumer acceptance could be a major respondents answered “I do not know.” Moreover, consumers’
barrier to the introduction of cultured meat (54). Furthermore, vision of cultured meat is likely to change over time through
it seems difficult to evaluate consumer acceptance for an earlier receiving more information.
stage product, which does not exist yet, as cultured meat.
It is widely acknowledged that the name given to an object or Ethics
phenomenon can affect subsequent evaluations and impressions Ethical issues are more and more important in food choices
of it. In this way, different names which have an influence on (61), and this encourages the development of social or societal
consumer attitude were proposed for cultured meat (55, 56). concerns (21). While the potential advantages of cultured meat
Indeed, “in vitro meat,” “clean meat,” “cultured meat,” “lab- regarding ethics and environmental issues are acknowledged,
grown meat,” “synthetic meat” and other names (15) suggest that many consumers have concerns about food safety mainly due
this innovation is slaughter-free, more responsible toward our to the unnaturalness perception of cultured meat (42, 53) as
environment and a credible alternative to the current intensive discussed previously.
farming systems. In vitro meat, like any new technology, raises inevitable
Otherwise, some authors have demonstrated (57) that ethical issues. One of the main purposes of this innovation,
consumers tend to strongly reject the name “in vitro meat.” according to cultured meat advocates, is to stop the cruel
Moreover, the term “cultured” is less disliked than the terms practices endured by animals that are sometimes confined in
“artificial” and “lab-grown” (57). This is confirmed by the Siegrist tight spaces and slaughtered in inhumane conditions. Besides,
et al. study (54), which concluded that participants have a low the usual conditions of life for battery-farmed animals often
level of acceptance of cultured meat because it is perceived as lead to diseases, infections, behavioral problems, and suffering.
unnatural. Furthermore, they found out that giving information However, due to the lack of a nervous system, cultured cells
to participants in the survey about the production of cultured and in vitro meat are supposed to be free from any type of
meat and its benefits has the paradoxical effect of increasing pain (62, 63) although biopsies on animals to collect cells may
the acceptance of traditional meat (54). Bryant et al. (58) and raise some issues concerning animal welfare. Therefore, some
Siegrist and Sütterlin (59) argued that a higher acceptance may be scientists consider this new (artificial) meat as a vegetarian
favored by less technical descriptions of cultured meat. This may product (62, 64, 65).
be explained by the fact that the “high- tech” process is associated Thus, cultured meat aims to use considerably fewer animals
with something scientific and unnatural, and therefore negatively than conventional livestock farming. Indeed, from an animal
affects the product’s image. In reality, consumers seem to dislike welfare perspective this could be attractive to some vegetarians,
unnatural food. vegans and those conscientious omnivores interested in reducing
In the study of Verbeke et al. (42), conducted in three their meat intake for ethical reasons (64).
EU countries, researchers demonstrated that “consumers’ initial The aforementioned idea would be more accurate if, as some
reactions when learning about cultured meat were initially start-ups have claimed, a new type of medium has been developed
underpinned by feelings of disgust and considerations of without the use of FBS from dead calves. Actually, some vegans
unnaturalness. After thinking, consumers envisaged few direct have been avoiding animal food because of the meat taste. Others
personal benefits from cultured meat, but they acknowledged would consider eating it if it was produced in a cruelty-free and
possible global societal benefits. Perceived personal risks from friendly environment (66).
eating cultured meat were largely underpinned by considerations Otherwise, while many scientific authors recognize the
of unnaturalness and uncertainty, and therefore inducing some potential ethical benefits of artificial meat, namely an increase in
kind of fear of the unknown.” Later on, consumers may accept animal welfare, nutrition-related diseases, food-borne illnesses,
scientific progress and therefore cultured meat, but will require resource use, and greenhouse gas emissions (32), other authors,
a trusted process of control and regulations to ensure complete as discussed previously, are not convinced that the production of
safety of the product. artificial meat will have a low carbon footprint. Nevertheless, it is

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

clear that the environmental impact of artificial meat is difficult to will be a vital element in addressing global food and nutrition
evaluate because it is currently based on speculative analyses (21). security in the world. However, to avoid criticism of livestock
But it is not that simple. There are certain issues to be farming concerning environmental and animal welfare issues,
considered. For example, at present, animals still have to be more efficient ways of protein production are being developed
used in the production of cultured meat, even in fewer numbers to sustain the growing global population.
for muscle sampling only. Whether painful or painless, animals One option is to culture muscle cells in an appropriate culture
must be reared so that their cells can be harvested to produce in medium, the most efficient so far being a medium containing
vitro meat. “Consequently, lab-grown meat still involves animal FBS. The medium should provide nutrients, hormones, and
exploitation, which is what the proponents of artificially grown growth factors, so that muscle cells will proliferate before being
meat want to avoid” (66). converted into muscle and hence produce a huge amount
of meat from a limited number of cells. Hopefully, thanks
Naturalness to technical advances, FBS has been replaced, at least in
However, if this description is true for some intensive livestock research laboratories, but maybe not yet at the industrial level.
systems, whereas intensive livestock remains cruel for a lot of Furthermore, as hormone growth promoters are prohibited in
people, it is not the case for a significant proportion of livestock in conventional farming systems for conventional meat production
the world, and particularly for many extensive systems in France in the European Union, this is still an issue. However, this
or some African countries. In a recent review, some authors technique is able to produce disorganized muscle fibers which
(67) concluded that sustainable intensification and agroecology are far removed from real muscle, and this is a huge limitation
could converge for a better future by adopting transformative in seeking to reproduce the wide range of meats representing
approaches in the search for ecologically benign, socially fair and the diversity of animal species and breeds, as well as muscles
economically viable livestock farming systems. or cuts. Moreover, the role of blood vessels and blood, nerve
tissue, intramuscular fats, and connective tissue affect both taste
Religion and Meat Consumption of meat. Indeed, a number of the “good” veggie meat burgers
In vitro meat, like any other new technology, raises numerous fail on texture and taste from the point of view of being
ethical, philosophical and religious questions. Mainly because too uniform.
of its nebulous status, religious authorities are still debating the The nutritional quality of cultured meat can be theoretically
following: whether in vitro meat is Kosher (consumable under controlled by adjusting the fat composites used in the medium
Jewish dietary laws), Halal (for Muslim consumers, compliant of production. This is also the case with conventional meat,
with Islamic laws), or what to do if there is no animal available with newly-developed strategies increasing the content of omega-
for ritual practices (Hindu consumers). 3 fatty acids in meat with current livestock farming systems.
Concerning the Jewish religion, rabbinical opinion is divided. However, controlling the micronutrient composition of cultured
Some think that cultured meat can only be considered Kosher if meat is still a research issue. Finally, the impact of cultured meat
the original cells were taken from a slaughtered Kosher animal. consumption on human health will have to be carefully checked
Others assume that regardless of the source of the cells used to and documented.
produce the cultured meat, they will certainly lose their original Regarding GHG, there is no consensus on the potential
identity. Therefore, the outcome cannot be defined as forbidden advantages in terms of GHG emissions of lab-grown meat
for consumption (68). compared to conventional meat on a short-term or long-
For the Islamic community, the crucial question is whether term basis.
the cultured meat is compliant with Islamic laws or not, most Despite its current high price, the production costs of cultured
commonly referred to as “Halal or not.” Since meat culturing meat will probably decrease in the near future. This may help
is a recent invention, the traditional Islamic jurist that Muslims consumer acceptance, despite a strong rejection of names that
often refer to has never discussed its Halal status. Therefore, refer to “in vitro” or “cultured” meat technology. However,
contemporary Islamic jurists have taken on this mission. The cultured meat will be in competition with other meat substitutes
Halal status of cultured meat can be resolved through identifying already on the market and better accepted by consumers, such as
the source of the cells and serum medium used in culturing the plant-based products.
artificial meat. Accordingly, in vitro meat is considered Halal only Ethically, cultured meat aims to use considerably fewer
if the stem cell is extracted from a Halal slaughtered animal, and animals than conventional livestock, which makes the product
neither blood nor serum is used in the process. Indeed, serum attractive to vegetarians and vegans. However, a few animals will
should be avoided unless one can prove that the meat will not be still need to be reared so that their cells can be harvested to
changed as a result of contact with the serum (being potentially produce in vitro meat.
unclean) (14). Moreover, the religious authorities are still debating; whether
in vitro meat is Kosher (consumable under Jewish dietary laws),
CONCLUSION Halal (for Muslim consumers, compliant with Islamic laws).
In conclusion, it seems clear that research projects on
To meet the increasing demand for food by a growing population cultured meat have had a limited scope as in vitro meat
in 2050, the FAO has concluded that 70% more food will be development is still in its infancy. The product will evolve
needed to fulfill this demand. In this context, livestock systems continuously in line with new discoveries and advances

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Chriki and Hocquette The Myth of Cultured Meat

that optimize the production, quality and efficiency of AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

cell division. It remains to be seen whether this progress
will be enough for artificial meat to be competitive in SC and J-FH contributed equally in the redaction of this review.
comparison to conventional meat and the increasing number of All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual
meat substitutes. contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

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