Lab-grown meat's uncertain future
It’s known by various names. Cultivated meat. Cellular meat. Lab-grown meat.
What remains constant are the roadblocks it encounters on its way to Canadian dinner tables and grocery shelves.
But, the future looked bright—at first. The fermentation of animal stem cells and nutrients to create meat was a milestone technology. And there were hopes it might one day lead to sustainable food production.
READ: Cult Food Science CEO on the future of cellular-based food
Throughout the years, the industry gathered momentum with more than US$2.6 billion in investments and more than 150 companies worldwide eager to take a place at the table. But, then came the challenges.
Bans and funding woes
Last fall, Italy became the first country to ban cultivated meat to protect its food heritage. And in May, Florida was the first state to impose a ban, followed shortly by Alabama.
Financial problems are also causing big headaches. Cultivated meat startup New Age Eats shuttered operations in March, citing issues with funding and regulations, while earlier this month, fellow California-based Upside Foods announced job cuts.
“I’ll admit, I’m a skeptic when it comes to the future of cultivated meat,” says Jo-Ann McArthur, president of Nourish Food Marketing in Toronto. “A lot of money has been poured into this sector and now it’s being pulled back.”
Made in Canada
In an email to Canadian Grocer, Health Canada said it hadn't received any applications for lab-grown meat. However, it’s conducting ongoing safety assessments of foods and food ingredients produced from cellular agriculture (producing animal products from cells) and publishing those results.
This prudent approach is supported by Yadira Tejeda-Saldana, director of responsible research & innovation, Canada at New Harvest, a research firm dedicated to cellular agriculture. “From a scientific perspective, we don’t actually have a lot of information out there in order to make an informed decision.”
“We’re generally more cautious and do more research than other markets,” notes Dana McCauley, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN). “That’s given us an amazing international reputation as a country that can be trusted to deliver safe food. However, many times in the past, and right now, it’s affecting the people who want to develop products in Canada and be first to market.”
Then there’s Canada’s supply management system, which enforces production quotas in the poultry, eggs and dairy farming sectors. And with this system comes a network of powerful lobby groups.
McCauley says these groups are focused on today and not thinking about how to grow and expand their businesses so they can be part of the future. “There needs to be a value zone where the innovators and existing industries are both accommodated so we keep all these businesses in Canada. Right now, it’s extremely difficult for the people innovating in cellular food and meat to stay here.”
Trying to make it work
As with any new technology, perfecting the process is painstaking and expensive. For instance, enormous pilot facilities are needed to house the reactors (where the cells are grown), in order to produce meat.
“In its current form, it’s very energy-intensive,” says McArthur.
The other issue is scalability. “Upside Foods is still making their product in two-litre flasks,” she points out. “It just isn’t scalable. They’re still working toward proof of concept.”
Tejeda-Saldana agrees. “We still don’t have public data or research that this is feasible at a mass scale production.”
Additionally, companies need to create a cost-efficient product to eventually compete with traditional farm-raised meat. But, with so much work ahead, a price tag is still far off.
“When it comes to product price, who knows?” McArthur notes. “The companies haven’t even managed to get to small scale.”
With all of these obstacles in the way, experts say it’s uncertain when cultivated meat will be served at Canadian dinner tables.
“I think we’re a very long way off,” McArthur says.
