A new project aims to remove the need for animal-derived products completely and instead upcycle existing agro-industrial by-products to be used as a growth media for culturing meat cells in a lab environment. 

UK-based CPI technology innovation center is partnering with 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT) – a spin-out of Newcastle University – to develop a new kind of improved growth media, one that is “truly animal-free.”

Current methods of producing cultured meat produce low yields and involve the use of animal-derived Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). As a result, the products are expensive and are still tapping into animal-derived ingredients. 

However, this new collaboration aims to use recent developments in cell and tissue engineering to develop a high-yield, serum-free medium for culturing muscle and fat cells.

The two companies are investigating alternatives to FBS, examining the development of cell feeding medium that incorporates a new class of growth-promoting supplements for increased biomass production. 

These supplements aim to eliminate the need for expensive FBS and be sourced from existing agro-industrial by-products, such as low-value raw materials like wood waste and chaff.

This reduces costs and cuts the carbon footprint of cultured meat production.

Low-emission system for cellular meat
Speaking with FoodIngredientsFirst, Clare Trippett, chief technologist at CPI, explains how the project will support a more efficient, low-emission system for cellular meat production, ultimately creating affordable and sustainable products.

“The growth media needed to culture animal cells often uses animal serum – a very expensive extract derived from the beef industry that can raise ethical concerns and may put off consumers,” she says.

“New media formulations are needed – and this project will investigate these alternatives.”

“We will develop a process for producing cultured meat that is cost-effective and can be done at a large enough scale to reach the consumer at an accessible price,” she says. 

“It needs to become mainstream for it to have the most impact in reducing environmental footprint and achieving net-zero emissions.”

Promoting cell growth
The partnership will use a special class of macromolecules to help promote cell growth – and create an alternative to animal serum, Trippett further explains. 

“These new supplements will be obtained from by-products of agricultural and other bio-industrial processes – which improves sustainability and promotes a circular economy. There will be a state-of-the-art high throughput screening to identify optimal growth conditions,” she says. 

Scale-up and ensuring reproducibility will be a major challenge for future development, providing high yields at larger scales, notes Trippett. 

Scaling-up to commercial levels is also a familiar stumbling block for several other food tech start-ups and cultured meat players who are creating lab-grown meat, poultry and fish, worldwide.

“CPI’s expertise and facilities in bioprocessing will help to address this (scaling-up) challenge. Consumer attitudes may also be challenging further down the line,” Trippett points out. 

In September, research that came out indicated substantial potential markets for cultured meat and the movement toward reduced-meat diets across Germany and France. The study found there is a growing acceptance of non-meat diets in both countries.

Moving to a slaughter-free world 
Livestock farming for food production is responsible for 18 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Improving access to more efficient and environmentally-friendly sources of protein will help to meet the nutritional needs of the growing population sustainably. 

The environmental impacts of conventional meat production, alongside ethical and welfare concerns linked to industrial farming, continue to influence consumers globally. It is anticipated the shift toward meat alternatives will overtake traditionally produced animal meat within 20 years.

This is underscored in a US report which says that most meat of the future will not come from slaughtered animals – instead, by 2040, the majority (60 percent) will be derived from cultured meat or plant-based alternatives that look and taste like meat.

The cultured meat movement may still be in its infancy, but over the next two decades, there will be dramatic changes, and we are seeing the seeds of these changes now in food technologies such as this collaboration. 

Last month, there was an interesting development in the space when a “cell-cultured meat restaurant” opened in Israel. This is the first time that cultured meat has shifted into foodservice, and diners had to apply to reserve a seat at the table and sample slaught-free chicken dishes as part of the unique dining experience. 

Reducing environmental impacts associated with meat production 
This project will be funded by a grant from Innovate UK and aims to make an important contribution to reducing the environmental impact associated with meat production. 

This initiative will be carried out at CPI’s National Biologics Manufacturing Center in the UK, drawing on CPI’s expertise in bioprocess optimization to facilitate scale-up.

CPI is a founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapul.

“We are delighted to work with CPI on this project. The expert support will help us to transform the production of cultured meat, making it economical, sustainable and accessible,” adds Dr. Ricardo Gouveia, CSO at 3DBT.

 We hope this will not only make it more appealing to consumers but will be crucial to meeting the nutritional needs of the growing population.”