£250,000 Burger Served In London, Tasters Say It Could Use More Fat!
Mark Post, a medical physiologist at Maastricht University, has created the world’s first artificially grown hamburger. Yes, you read that right! An artificially grown burger. Just let that sink in for a second!
How did a burger that costs more than a Ferrari or your average house mortgage taste? According to the volunteers, the patty had a meaty texture and was surprisingly natural, though the flavor still had a long way to go. According to Josh Schonwald, a popular food critic, “The mouthfeel is like meat. I miss the fat, there’s a leanness to it, but the general bite feels like a hamburger.”
Backed by a donation from Sergey Brin, Google’s head honcho, this 250,000-pound burger is a one-of-a-kind stem cell marvel. The beef was grown in the lab by extracting stem cells from a cow, which were grown until 20,000 muscle strands were formed. After finally being combined with fatty tissue, the burger was cooked in butter and served to the two volunteers, Josh Schonwald and food researcher Hanni Ruetzler.
Other ingredients used in the artificial beef patty like salt, egg powder, breadcrumbs, red beetroot juice, and saffron were added to give the grey patty some natural meaty color.
Why the need for lab-grown meat, you might ask. According to Mark, 70% of the world’s livestock population is currently being consumed, and this could lead to a severe shortage in the near future, which might make meat outrageously expensive. The burger is also said to be an answer to animal house emissions and the unethical treatment of animals at slaughterhouses.
So there you have it - with a little more fat and flavor, artificially grown meat can be yours sooner than you thought possible. If you have a spare £250,000 lying around!
