While vacationing I came across this video on TV about the first lab-grown hamburger. This hamburger was unveiled on Monday and some people were called upon to taste it and give their opinions. Mind you, this piece of meat costs 250,000 Euros ($331,425)
The 5oz (142grams) patty – made from lab-grown “cultured beef” – was dished up by its creator, Professor Mark Post, before journalists in Hammersmith, in the west of the capital.
The scientist-turned-chef made the most expensive beefburger in history from 20,000 tiny strips of meat grown from cow stem cells over a three-month period.
This project was bankrolled by Google’s Co-founder, Sergey Brin. According to Mashable, Sergey Brin says he invested in the cultured burger because of his belief in animal rights. He feels that our idyllic, pastoral images of farm life are not akin to the experiences of animals. “When you see how these cows are treated, it’s certainly something I’m not comfortable with,” he told The Guardian in a video interview.
The burger was fried in a pan with sunflower oil and a knob of butter before it was sampled by Josh Schonwald, author of The Taste of Tomorrow and food scientist Hanni Rutzler.
Ms Rutzler said it was “close to meat” but she was expecting the texture to be softer and it wasn’t very juicy.
Mr Schonwald said the “absence is the fat … it’s a leanness to it but the bite feels like a conventional hamburger”.
He said the biggest different was the lack of flavour, such as spice or fat.
Professor Post believes his artificial meat – known by the rather unappetising title “in-vitro meat” – could herald a food revolution and appear in supermarkets within the next 10 to 20 years.
