By Tiwaysyya Segaran
In 2016, a company named Impossible Foods introduced a truly impossible food: a vegetarian burger that bleeds. Gimmicky as it was, the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating, and people were amazed at how closely the vegetarian burger simulated a beef burger.
Alternative meat is a swiftly emerging technology that has been on the rise since the 2010s, stepping into the spotlight amidst growing concerns over the environmental impact of meat production and ethical animal treatment, while needing to meet global food demand.
In this article, we glimpse into the intriguing world of alternative meats, looking into current developments and how alternative meats can revolutionize our food systems. Currently, research into alternative meats is focused on two main areas, which are plant-based meat and cultured (lab-grown) meat.
A common complaint about plant-based meat is that it hardly tastes like meat. That all may change with Impossible Foods’ game-changing discovery. Pat Brown, the founder of said Impossible Foods, managed to identify ‘heme’, the key substance which gives meat its distinct flavour. Heme is present in both plant and animal cells, but the concentration of heme is not as high in vegetarian meat, which is why, in spite of all the heavy seasoning, plant burgers fail to mimic the taste of beef burgers.
From this discovery, further research went into finding out how to produce heme from plants on a large scale and how to utilise heme to make plant-based food taste like animal meat. An instance of this is found in United States patent no. US 9,700,067 B2, which discloses methods for making a ground beef-like food product.
Another notable example can be found in US patent application publication no. US 2016/0340411 A1, which discloses methods for production of heme-containing polypeptides.
On the lab-grown meat side of things, recent technologies revolve around satellite cell culture. A single cell (usually muscle stem cell) is obtained from an animal and is then nurtured in appropriate conditions to cause the cell to multiply within a sterile environment. As innovations in cost-effective methods continue to advance rapidly, numerous patents are being filed to secure the rights to these inventions.
An example of such emerging technology can be found in US 2021/0139843 A1 which discloses a method for cultivating the cells within a bioreactor enclosure as well as an effective system for the delivery of fluid solution to the cells.
Another example may be found in US 2020/0140810 A1 that relates to an invention in which the cell culture comprises a myriad of cell types including ECM-secreting cells and endothelial cells instead of consisting solely of muscle cells. This method has been proven to result in cultured cells with increased survival and proliferation rate.
Not just limited to culturing animal cells, US 2023/0210134 A1 discloses a process of developing a hybrid meat substitute that combines a plant derived component with various cultured animal cells to elevate the meat-like attributes of the synthetic meat.
In spite of the advances in the field of alternative meats, several obstacles remain present. Animal meat is still nutritionally superior to plant-based meat as animal proteins are complete sources of protein – containing all nine essential amino acids needed in the human diet. Meanwhile, plant proteins often lack some of these amino acids. Also, animal proteins tend to be 10 – 20% more readily absorbed by humans in comparison to plant proteins.
Another significant point of contention revolves around human psychology, as people tend to exhibit scepticism towards food products created in a laboratory, primarily due to concerns about their safety and authenticity. An essential aspect in winning consumer acceptance involves achieving the exact taste and characteristics of conventional meat while assuring consumers that such bioengineered or lab-cultured foods are safe for consumption. Additionally, challenges lie in achieving mass production while simultaneously keeping costs low for the average consumer.
The journey towards stocking supermarket shelves with alternative meats is marked by both remarkable advancements and great challenges. While it may be the case for now that alternative meats are for the more affluent eco-conscious vegetarians, a day will soon come when plant-based and lab-grown meats are as ubiquitous and affordable as a can of SPAM®, but without the associated health risks or negative environmental impact. As these innovations progress, securing intellectual property through effective patent searches and strategic IP management becomes crucial.
Should you have any enquiries related to patents and any IP matters, drop us a line at kass@kass.asia.
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