China food scientists combine pork, chicken with rice in lab-grown meat advance
- Most cultured meats are produced using synthetic carriers but the grain staple provides a natural, nutritious alternative, researchers said
Researchers in Beijing say they have developed rice dishes that involve embedding meat cells into various grain varieties that grow in the laboratory to produce balanced, nutritious meals.
The research, which has not yet been published in peer-reviewed academic journals, was led by the Beijing Academy of Food Sciences’ China Meat Research Centre and reported on Monday by state newspaper Science and Technology Daily.
Wang Shouwei, the chief scientist behind the project, said the lab-grown chicken and pork rice dishes are visually indistinguishable from regular varieties. “But once cooked, they release a combined aroma of both meat and rice.”
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According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock farming takes up 30 per cent of the planet’s arable land, consumes 8 per cent of its fresh water and contributes to 18 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The use of veterinary drugs and residual antibiotics can also lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the spread of zoonotic diseases.
But traditional cell-cultured meat is produced using expensive, synthetic carriers, which “often raise food safety concerns and inflate production costs”, Wang said.
“Rice on the other hand provides a natural, edible alternative – rich in fibre and other beneficial nutrients.”