Cultured meat is set to reach the Brazilian market in 2024
Originally published at https://www1.folha.uol.com.br on November 27, 2022
Brazil is expected to begin producing and commercializing cultured meat in 2024. This information comes from Raquel Casseli, Director of Corporate Engagement at The Good Food Institute (GFI), a non-profit organization that funds projects and research in the field and involves entrepreneurs seeking regulation of this market in the country.
Currently, there are 57 universities and research centers with projects focused on alternative proteins, both plant-based (produced from vegetables) and lab-grown meat. “The regulatory process for this market in Brazil will follow the rest of the world,” says Casseli.
Singapore is currently the only country allowing the sale of alternative protein products. On November 17, the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approved, for the first time, the commercialization of cultured meat. The license is specifically for chicken meat from Californian food tech company Upside Foods, which can begin selling the product once its factories pass inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the European Union, it is expected that the approval processes for cultured meat will begin by the end of this year, with the first products being commercialized in 2024, just like in Brazil.
Cultivated meat is a method of producing animal-origin foods by extracting stem cells. These cells are processed in bioreactors that provide the necessary conditions for proliferation and biological safety against contamination until the final product, which is obtained through 3D printing.
Currently, most projects have reached the stage of protein mass, a kind of ground meat used to produce breaded products and derivatives. However, the main goal of ongoing initiatives is to be able to reproduce meat in specific cuts, such as fillets. To achieve this, it is necessary to have materials that serve as support for 3D printing, allowing the cells to find the ideal conditions for developing the desired meat cut’s characteristics.
Aline Bruna da Silva, a professor at the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais, is a pioneer in this field. She is responsible for the first prototype of lab-grown chicken meat using a nanomaterial based on edible cellulose that serves as a structure for the cells to develop and take on a three-dimensional shape.
Financed with resources from GFI Brasil, the research aims to develop the necessary technology to make more specific cuts of meat viable. “Although companies and startups are driving market development, universities can provide solutions to common problems in lab-grown meat projects, especially on the technological side,” says the director.
Keeping an eye on this new market, major food industry companies have already started to make moves. In 2021, JBS acquired BioTech Foods, a company specialized in meat cultivation, allocating 100 million (R$ 537 million) for the development of products made through this process. BRF also announced a 2.5 million (R$ 13.4 million) investment in an Israeli startup operating in the market.
Startups dominate the application of this technology in the market. Founded in 2017 by Marcelo Szpilman, a marine biologist and founder of the Rio Marine Aquarium, Sustineri Piscis is one of them. The company has already reached the prototype stage of protein mass for breaded products and aims to achieve the stage of fish fillets.
The focus on fish meat is due to the cellular conditions that these animals provide for technology development. “Fish cells have several advantages compared to mammals and birds. One of them is the growth factor, which allows cells to have many more generations,” explains Szpilman.
He believes in the potential of alternative proteins for a sustainable future in food production. “Cultured meat effectively plays an important role in sustainability, especially in reducing the generation of pollutants such as CO2 and methane,” he says.
The environmental impact caused by the consumption of animal-origin foods is one of the factors justifying the search for alternatives. According to a World Resources Institute study, to feed the projected global population of 9 billion people by 2050, animal protein production will need to increase by 60%. Annually, livestock is responsible for generating 7.1 gigatons of CO2, accounting for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
According to studies by the University of Oxford and the University of Amsterdam, lab-grown meat has the potential to provide animal protein with 96% lower greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers also point out that this type of meat industry can operate with 45% less energy expenditure and reductions between 82% and 96% in water usage.
However, the economic sustainability of this model is still a challenge. For example, the cultivation of the first lab-grown hamburger patty by pharmacologist Mark Post cost 300,000 (R$ 1.88 million) over two years and was completed in 2013. In 2019, the cost per hamburger dropped to 8.80 (R$ 47.20), and with regulation in various countries, it is projected to become even lower, making the products more affordable. But all of this is still a gamble and directly depends on the market’s acceptance of the product.
“Companies still have a lot of work ahead to explain what this technology is, how the protein is produced, and provide information that makes consumers comfortable buying it,” says Raquel Casseli from GFI Brasil. Despite this, Szpilman is optimistic. “I have no doubt that in the future, we will have lab-grown picanha, fish, and chicken,” he says.
