$325k 3D-Printed Lab Grown Burger Tastes Gross

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This has to be the "technology gone wrong" story of the day. Eating a $325,000 3D-printed burger, grown in a lab is just wrong...on many levels. :eek:

A couple of tasters, who claim they're unpaid and impartial, are currently chomping their way through some very expensive artificial flesh at a publicity event in London. According to the BBC's science correspondent Pallab Ghosh, who is also at the gathering, the main feedback so far is that the meat -- which is presented as a burger -- isn't as juicy or tasty as the real thing, mainly because it's totally lean.
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How is it wrong? It's the start of weaning off our reliance on slaughtered animals for meat and other purposes. The current level of growth worldwide cannot be sustained by our animal crop.
 
cesium666 said:
How is it wrong? It's the start of weaning off our reliance on slaughtered animals for meat and other purposes. The current level of growth worldwide cannot be sustained by our animal crop.
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dunno, I still prefer fresh, organic food, im not surprised that thing tasted gross, there are reasons why healthy properly brought up farm animals tastes much better than un-nurtured wild ones imho
 
cesium666 said:
How is it wrong?
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Let's start with the $325k price tag ;)
Next...it's cultured meat.
Then...they used beet juice for color because the stuff is grey.

THIS:

1375712104kFWKGecUq8_1_1.jpg


It's grown in a lab from muscle cells harvested from a cow.

Still requires amino acids, fats, sugars and minerals.

There is no long term study that says "eating burgers grown in a petri dish won't kill you or make you grow a second head"

The whole thought of it makes your skin crawl. ;)
 
dyzophoria said:
dunno, I still prefer fresh, organic food, im not surprised that thing tasted gross, there are reasons why healthy properly brought up farm animals tastes much better than un-nurtured wild ones imho
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I'm not surprised it's gross either, given it's the first of its kind. But it's a step in the right direction, and as research and progress continues, price will come down and taste will get better (espec if they figure out how to add a bit of fat in there!)
 
Steve said:
Let's start with the $325k price tag ;)
Next...it's cultured meat.
Then...they used beet juice for color because the stuff is grey.

THIS:

SNIP

It's grown in a lab from muscle cells harvested from a cow.

Still requires amino acids, fats, sugars and minerals.

There is no long term study that says "eating burgers grown in a petri dish won't kill you or make you grow a second head"

The whole thought of it makes your skin crawl. ;)
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I 100% agree it'd be wrong if this was for public consumption and about to be distributed across the world. But it's the FIRST time this has ever been done, of course it's going to be disgusting and there are going to be questions about safety etc. That's why these types of products aren't going to be on the shelves for a few decades :rolleyes: I think it's admirable science and a huge breakthrough that this can even be feasibly created.
 
cesium666 said:
How is it wrong? It's the start of weaning off our reliance on slaughtered animals for meat and other purposes. The current level of growth worldwide cannot be sustained by our animal crop.
Click to expand...

First problem is that we commonly create/modify "better" replacements for mother natures offerings only to find out later that we messed it up (in some cases worse then the natural).

Margarine is a perfect example, for years everyone used it to be "healthier"... yet ultimately found out the fatty acids in margarine are worse for you than regular butter.

My opinion... We think we are smart but almost everytime we mess with mother nature we get burned. That means we actually have little understanding of the over-all complexity and workings of our own ecosystem and bio-somethings or anothers.

"Replacement" food isn't the answer... manageing our society is. If we can't farm or product enough meet, then we must adjust. I know in the US, we eat waaaaay more meat then some thing the body is build to digest.
 
Whoa. Does this mean in 20 years I can walk into my kitchen and say "Computer, make me a pot roast, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, and a slice of pecan pie" and it'll pop of my food synthesizer in about 2 minutes? :p
 
People bag on lean meat, but most cuts are overly grizzled and even when its super lean, a little tlc at the grill and it will be fine.
 
without destroying the environment or harming animals.
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I love the whole harming the animals bit... we stop eating meat and many of these animals are practically extinct, there's no reason to keep them alive at barns, no one is going to want to see a steer in a zoo, chickens too, sure initially they might run around everywhere but when you can't get chicken people are going to kill and cook everyone they can find.
 
I've been looking forward to this for YEARS... neat that its' getting more attention. I think a type of sausage will be the first thing we see in stores, because it's easier to get the texture right and add a bunch of other stuff to it for a better taste.

I believe this is the future though, and people thinking it's strange or "not normal", well it's basically the same process used to make yogurt and some other foods we've mostly considered "normal".

I also think this kind of meat has much more potential to be worlds healthier than the horribly treated animals we now see in most places. Of course, they will probably hack up some strange combination of ingredients/hormones to help grow it faster or cheaper... yuck.
 
I don't think people realize, but different versions of meat will be privately grown and sold and marketed like Pepsi or Coke to cola, but to Beef for example.

I wouldn't imagine the first iteration of such a completely new area of study (growing tasty meat with an animal host) to be successful

Anyways, this is another inevitable first step into the emerging market of the future. I'm excited.
 
While maybe not Soylent Green it does make you think about what the future holds for these type of foods.
 
sfsuphysics said:
I love the whole harming the animals bit... we stop eating meat and many of these animals are practically extinct, there's no reason to keep them alive at barns, no one is going to want to see a steer in a zoo, chickens too, sure initially they might run around everywhere but when you can't get chicken people are going to kill and cook everyone they can find.
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It's funny, but we will see a naturalist meat connoisseur movement a la veganism with naturally grown meat over the inevitable lab grown standard I imagine will be the staple of the future. There's always going to be a fringe group of humans deviating themselves from the pack in one self-elevating regard or another. So what I'm saying is, select strains of farm animal will always have some demand, but I do agree the greater bulk of all farm animals in the future will not, and like you said, they will basically become endangered and solely under human preservation.
 
dandirk said:
My opinion... We think we are smart but almost everytime we mess with mother nature we get burned.
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I think it's easy to look at the failures and blow them out of proportion. Advanced in food/medicine/whatever may very well be a net positive. I do agree that some of these negatives have had huge consequences though, no argument there.

In other news, McDonald is changing their beef recipe:
http://www.examiner.com/article/fol...o-bell-mcdonalds-usa-removes-ammonia-products

Tell me you are OK eating amonia acid ridden "beef" made of miscellaneous cow parts, almost all of which we would "normally" never use for a burger.
 
My whole point is, anyone who is anti-lab grown meat must have some fantastical mindset to believe such nonsense. I'm interested in what perceptions this sort of person must humour.
 
Kalabalana said:
My whole point is, anyone who is anti-lab grown meat must have some fantastical mindset to believe such nonsense. I'm interested in what perceptions this sort of person must humour.
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I am not anti-lab per se, just that we should not forget the past. There are many many cases of "lab" or scientifically adjusted consumables which pass our FDA etc but end up having unforeseen consequences.

butter replacements, sugar replacements. Hormones in milk/food look to be causing development changes of our kids. The list goes on and on... GMO are causing a stir with the nutty environmentalists but we do need to be careful.

I believe if you are really confident in human's understanding of the natural body and ecosystem, then you are the one with the "fanatical mindset". Yes we know a lot, but not nearly enough to completely replace the fuel we need to live on a daily basis.

Nature is way more complex then we give mother nature credit for. Messing with our DAILY consumables is a high risk. We are not talking about certain meds one some might use etc or a medical surgury to fix a possible worse issue.
 
Youn said:
I think it's easy to look at the failures and blow them out of proportion. Advanced in food/medicine/whatever may very well be a net positive. I do agree that some of these negatives have had huge consequences though, no argument there.

In other news, McDonald is changing their beef recipe:
http://www.examiner.com/article/fol...o-bell-mcdonalds-usa-removes-ammonia-products

Tell me you are OK eating amonia acid ridden "beef" made of miscellaneous cow parts, almost all of which we would "normally" never use for a burger.
Click to expand...

I don't think its ok... I am not a save the animal nut job (I love eating meat hmmm hmmm good)... I just have seen a pattern where we think we are super smart and can be better then mother nature... but ultimately it comes out that there were unknown prices to pay (some of which are worse).

While I completely support the study of said replacements, I think we have to be waaaay more cautious about testing to ensure there are no unexpected consequences.

One day we could completely hose something up like our reproductive system (que up any cheesy sci-fi movie)... and then hose a lot more people. Though with all the idiots in the world maybe we don't need as many kids. lol
 
Youn said:
Tell me you are OK eating amonia acid ridden "beef" made of miscellaneous cow parts, almost all of which we would "normally" never use for a burger.
Click to expand...

I'm ok with it. Been doing it for years. I would say that it actually is 'normal', because it has become commonplace. There are plenty of foods that you may not like to eat if you saw them produced, but that does not inherently make them bad.
 
This ugly shit is the anti-Ron Swanson. Give it to the poor people so they don't starve, but don't put it on my plate.
 
Those who say this is technology gone wrong, need to become educated on why this technology exist, and what the future holds. In short...

70% of all agricultural is used to raise animals. As poorer nations become "richer", and the poor are able to afford more food. The demand for such meat will greatly increase. We already have food shortages, and massive increase in food prices around the world in the last few decades. This technology of growing food in the lab with 3d printers (or say a replicator type machine in the future) will greatly aid in offsetting future demand and thus price increases.

As for the bland taste, the scientist say that isn't a problem, or their main concern right now. They said they can easily modify some stem cells to produce fat which will give it a more natural flavor, and their main concern this time was texture, and they hit that off the bat apparently! Eventually we'll be able to say "tea earl gray hot" and have our meal delivered in front of us instantly! ;)
 
dandirk said:
First problem is that we commonly create/modify "better" replacements for mother natures offerings only to find out later that we messed it up (in some cases worse then the natural).

Margarine is a perfect example, for years everyone used it to be "healthier"... yet ultimately found out the fatty acids in margarine are worse for you than regular butter.

My opinion... We think we are smart but almost everytime we mess with mother nature we get burned. That means we actually have little understanding of the over-all complexity and workings of our own ecosystem and bio-somethings or anothers.

"Replacement" food isn't the answer... manageing our society is. If we can't farm or product enough meet, then we must adjust. I know in the US, we eat waaaaay more meat then some thing the body is build to digest.
Click to expand...

Margerine is completely different than what they're talking about. This lab cultured meat isn't made using different components, it's made using muscle cells (you know, meat?) that were cultured and grown outside the body of a cow. Margerine is basically whipped lipids and oils, and some of which is petroleum based. It's not substitution at all.

I'm interested in this, NOT because it'll replace the standard livestock, but because it may help lead us to a method of creating diverse foodstuffs in locations where livestock is impractival ie. space. If it's possible to make it cheaper and easier to create, it would be a great way to help make a self-sustaining space station, moon base or Mars outpost.
 
dandirk said:
I don't think its ok... I am not a save the animal nut job (I love eating meat hmmm hmmm good)... I just have seen a pattern where we think we are super smart and can be better then mother nature... but ultimately it comes out that there were unknown prices to pay (some of which are worse).

While I completely support the study of said replacements, I think we have to be waaaay more cautious about testing to ensure there are no unexpected consequences.

One day we could completely hose something up like our reproductive system (que up any cheesy sci-fi movie)... and then hose a lot more people. Though with all the idiots in the world maybe we don't need as many kids. lol
Click to expand...

The lab grown meat doesn't look like it's going to be something we need to worry about for a while. First, technically, since there's no substitutions to the actual makeup of the meat, and no modification of the genetic structure, the chances of common issues we run into with food additives are kinda low. We may run into a new kind of issue we're not expecting though, so that's something to pay attention to.

Second, with it being so expensive and hard to accomplish, there's low chances of it being moved into public distribution for a while, hopefully making it natural for food safety organizations to really put it through a battery of tests before it becomes commonplace. The reason why margerine and HFCS are everywhere is because they're cheap to make. That's not going to happen with this for a while, at least.
 
joblo37pam said:
I'm ok with it. Been doing it for years. I would say that it actually is 'normal', because it has become commonplace. There are plenty of foods that you may not like to eat if you saw them produced, but that does not inherently make them bad.
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of course it's your choice to put whatever you want in your body, and also your choice whether or not to be ignorant of what it actually is. I know a lot of people probably would just rather not know that they are eating ground up duck feathers and HUMAN HAIR in their bagels (another common practice): http://foodaries.com/2011/06/l-cysteine-in-your-food-comes-from-human-hair-and-duck-feathers/
 
cesium666 said:
How is it wrong? It's the start of weaning off our reliance on slaughtered animals for meat and other purposes. The current level of growth worldwide cannot be sustained by our animal crop.
Click to expand...

SOYLENT MEAT IS COWS!!!
 
Youn said:
of course it's your choice to put whatever you want in your body, and also your choice whether or not to be ignorant of what it actually is. I know a lot of people probably would just rather not know that they are eating ground up duck feathers and HUMAN HAIR in their bagels (another common practice): http://foodaries.com/2011/06/l-cysteine-in-your-food-comes-from-human-hair-and-duck-feathers/
Click to expand...

For the record, all amino acid supplements and fortifiers in food are produced this way.
 
cesium666 said:
How is it wrong? It's the start of weaning off our reliance on slaughtered animals for meat and other purposes. The current level of growth worldwide cannot be sustained by our animal crop.
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ITS PEOPLE!!! SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!
 
Chunder said:
Those who say this is technology gone wrong, need to become educated on why this technology exist, and what the future holds. In short...

70% of all agricultural is used to raise animals. As poorer nations become "richer", and the poor are able to afford more food. The demand for such meat will greatly increase. We already have food shortages, and massive increase in food prices around the world in the last few decades. This technology of growing food in the lab with 3d printers (or say a replicator type machine in the future) will greatly aid in offsetting future demand and thus price increases...
Click to expand...

There's also the fact that current large scale industrial meat production is incredibly damaging to the environment... both from the agricultural production used to feed all the cattle, as well as to the damage from the animals themselves.

The main discussion on emissions is usually all about CO2, but methane is actually a far worse greenhouse gas, and giant industrial cattle plants put out a *lot* of it.

Add to that the damage (both to the environment and directly to us humans) from all the hormone and antibiotic riddled waste going into the soil and ground water, as well as being used as a liquid shit fertilizer for the crops *we* eat...

Truthfully the real cost of beef (and other industrial produced meats) has been kept artificially low, both by government subsidies and the unnatural methods that have come into use to produce our food.

Want to see what real meat costs? Go to an organic supermarket and buy some free-range, antibiotic/hormone free, organic raised meat... Basically what we all *should* be eating, but is basically impossible because there's a few billion too many hungry people residing on the planet and not enough resources to feed them.

Once upon a time chicken, beef, etc. were considered once a week special Sunday dinner meals, and not something we ate every day.

In the long run, it's basically only a matter of time before a "real" burger once again becomes something you go out to eat on a special occasion (and probably pay $50 for,) and day in and day out we either eat new lab-produced artificial proteins that look, feel, and (mostly) taste what we are used to... Or we learn to eat new and more sustainable sources of protein such as insects.
 
There is still a long ways to go to get the taste right. Maybe they should mix it with lab grown fat to improve the flavor. This is actually a great achievement because when you think about it, it's agriculturally and environmentally expe...nsive to raise livestock for food. For a world that is going to have a population of about 8 to 10 billion in 2020, addressing food needs and demand needs to happen. So far this is a promising first step but still has a long way to go before it becomes commercially viable and available to a lot of people, including affordable.

Stupid comments by stupid people online fall under the following: "It isn't raised by/given by God, I refuse to eat it," "I won't trust anything lab grown," "Stop playing god," and "Soylent green." First off, to all the stupid fucking fundamentalist religious people out there: if you can find a solution to hunger crises around the world and the ability to balance farm land needed for crops and livestock and land for businesses and residences, then I'd like to hear it. Secondly, stop bringing God (or whatever deity you believe in) into this. I'm getting sick and tired hearing ignorant people blame God/gods for natural disasters and blaming scientists for playing god for scienctific achievements that may benefit mankind. And, some people wonder why I choose to have no religion. Next, this is nowhere near being "soylent green". People need to stop referring to that food item as resorting to cannibalism is probably the last desperate measure to addressing food needs and demands. It would be a step backward for a modern society to resort to cannibalism. Such a situation was even depicted in the movie "Cloud Atlas." Lastly, these are grown from stem cells and muscle cells taken from live cows then gown in a lab. This isn't pieced together from DNA and proteins, and built from scratch. It's still pure cattle muscle cells, just blood-less and fat-less. It lacks taste as a lot of flavor of actual meat comes from fat and connective tissue, and even blood and the minerals contained in blood. The great thing about this : Little to no risk of bacterial infection from e.coli and salmonella.

So, to all the scientifcially ignorant people out there: Grow a fucking a brain. The world needs less ignorant, illogical, and overly religiously ignorant, single-minded people, or we will never move forward as a society and find the things needed to benefit mankind.
 
octoberasian said:
There is still a long ways to go to get the taste right. Maybe they should mix it with lab grown fat to improve the flavor. This is actually a great achievement because when you think about it, it's agriculturally and environmentally expe...nsive to raise livestock for food.
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Can't tell if serious. $325K per pattie is hardly an example of cost effectiveness. A small plot of land with a barn and grass that grows under powerlines is my definition of cheap.
 
Ducman69 said:
Can't tell if serious. $325K per pattie is hardly an example of cost effectiveness. A small plot of land with a barn and grass that grows under powerlines is my definition of cheap.
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Dude. You need to look at the potential, and actually read the article. Farms take up a lot of space, use a lot of resources, require a lot of work, and won't be able to meet demand.

With lab grown food, it will be easier to make, takes way less space, resources, work, and will be able to meet demand easier.

Computers use to be expensive, difficult to mass produced, take a lot of space, use a lot of energy, slow/less efficient, etc., but now are very affordable, far smaller, easily mass produced, more energy efficient, etc. Now compare that to the lab grown food.
 
octoberasian said:
There is still a long ways to go to get the taste right. Maybe they should mix it with lab grown fat to improve the flavor. This is actually a great achievement because when you think about it, it's agriculturally and environmentally expe...nsive to raise livestock for food. For a world that is going to have a population of about 8 to 10 billion in 2020, addressing food needs and demand needs to happen. So far this is a promising first step but still has a long way to go before it becomes commercially viable and available to a lot of people, including affordable.

Stupid comments by stupid people online fall under the following: "It isn't raised by/given by God, I refuse to eat it," "I won't trust anything lab grown," "Stop playing god," and "Soylent green." First off, to all the stupid fucking fundamentalist religious people out there: if you can find a solution to hunger crises around the world and the ability to balance farm land needed for crops and livestock and land for businesses and residences, then I'd like to hear it. Secondly, stop bringing God (or whatever deity you believe in) into this. I'm getting sick and tired hearing ignorant people blame God/gods for natural disasters and blaming scientists for playing god for scienctific achievements that may benefit mankind. And, some people wonder why I choose to have no religion. Next, this is nowhere near being "soylent green". People need to stop referring to that food item as resorting to cannibalism is probably the last desperate measure to addressing food needs and demands. It would be a step backward for a modern society to resort to cannibalism. Such a situation was even depicted in the movie "Cloud Atlas." Lastly, these are grown from stem cells and muscle cells taken from live cows then gown in a lab. This isn't pieced together from DNA and proteins, and built from scratch. It's still pure cattle muscle cells, just blood-less and fat-less. It lacks taste as a lot of flavor of actual meat comes from fat and connective tissue, and even blood and the minerals contained in blood. The great thing about this : Little to no risk of bacterial infection from e.coli and salmonella.

So, to all the scientifcially ignorant people out there: Grow a fucking a brain. The world needs less ignorant, illogical, and overly religiously ignorant, single-minded people, or we will never move forward as a society and find the things needed to benefit mankind.
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That was quite the rant.

My solution is to stop throwing so much food away. Do you know how much edible food is thrown away in the US alone?
 
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