H2020 Meat4All Project: Industrialization and commercialization of a competitive, sustainable, and consumer-oriented alternative source of animal protein.

Sustainable, slaughter-free meat eliminates the need to kill animals. Cultured meat is an ethical alternative to factory farming, reduces animal-borne diseases, and produces no greenhouse gases from enteric fermentation. © JackF/stock.adobe.com The production of animal protein through cell culture in a controlled environment, known in the industry as “cultured meat,” uses no antibiotics or hormones and has none of the environmental or animal welfare issues associated with factory farming. “Our technology uses animal cells to grow meat without the need to kill the animal or have many animals to produce it,” says Iñigo Charola, Meat4All project coordinator and co-founder and CEO of BioTech Foods in San Sebastián, Spain. A small sample (a biopsy) is taken from a healthy animal. The muscle cells are then isolated and grown in an industrial environment that replicates the conditions for those cells in the living animal. This involves keeping the animal’s temperature at 37°C, feeding it minerals, vitamins, and amino acids, and providing oxygen—all of which are essential for the growth of the animal. All of this without damaging or stressing the cells. "Nutritionally speaking, the muscle provides the protein," Charola explains, adding: "Once these cells are isolated, they can be used to produce meat for a long time."

By replicating the same conditions as in the animal, the cells fulfill their programming: they grow and then differentiate into muscle. We then harvest it as a product that can be transformed into consumer products such as burgers, sausages, nuggets, and other formats with the taste and texture of traditional meat. Manufacturing scale at an affordable price. Before the EU-funded Meat4All project, most of the components used to feed the cells were expensive and were primarily used in the pharmaceutical industry. “But we managed to find alternative ingredients for the culture media that feed the cells and that were food-grade rather than pharmaceutical-grade. The work on the culture media formulations allowed us to drastically reduce the cost,” says Charola. After proving this works in a pilot plant, BioTech is investing €36 million in a new facility in San Sebastián, where production will begin in 2024, followed by commercial launch.

The goal is to achieve a production capacity of 4,000 tons of cultured meat per year, he adds. Sustainability Benefits: Meat grown in an animal-free environment avoids animal-borne diseases and the use of antibiotics. It also requires far fewer animals, which is better for the planet. "Meat production requires a huge amount of natural resources: 38% of the world's habitable land is used to feed animals, which is not sustainable at all," Charola notes. "Producing one kilogram of beef requires around 15,415 liters of water for the entire production cycle, including everything that goes into the animal. It's estimated that we will need 90% to 95% less water to produce [cultured] meat." The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) notes that livestock farming is responsible for 14.5% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, primarily methane.

Cultured meat can reduce this. "We don't have the animal, just the cells, so no methane is produced by enteric fermentation," says Charola. Acceptable to consumers? Market studies in many countries have revealed that young people are willing to accept new technologies that contribute to more sustainable food production. However, currently, cultured meat products are only authorized in Singapore. Due to restrictions on large-scale production in many regions, consumer taste tests have not yet been conducted on this or other EU-funded cultured meats, such as those related to the CULTURED BEEF and CCMeat projects. "Foods can only be successful when they meet two criteria: you like what you eat and you can afford it," according to Charola. Furthermore, for new foods to be accepted, "it's important to communicate transparently, so that consumers have all the information about the benefits."