Scientist develop meatless product for meat lovers
Scientists claim to have developed the world's first vegetable-based product which could satisfy both the taste buds and wallets of meat lovers.
The success could single-handedly help satiate the world's growing appetite for meat, a desire that is expected to double meat consumption by 2050, the researchers said.
Lead researcher Patrick Brown, a molecular biologist at the Stanford University, said the first such food capable of replicating the taste, texture and nutrition of meat and dairy products could be available in market by the end of this year.
"We have a class of products that totally rocks, and cannot be distinguished from the animal-based product it replaces, even by hardcore foodies," Brown was quoted as saying by LiveScience.
Brown began his work several years ago when he decided to focus the rest of his life upon solving the challenge of weaning the world off of animal farming.
Speaking at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver, he described such animal farming as an "inefficient technology millennia old" that also represents "by far the biggest environmental catastrophe".
Less animal farming could reduce the risks of livestock diseases that spread to humans, slash the need for grazing land, and perhaps even help the world avoid food shortages by consuming crops directly rather than feeding them to animals.
"We can do more good by taking on the simple task of figuring out how to convert cheap, abundant sustainable plant materials into nutrient-dense, protein-rich foods that people deliberately choose to eat based on taste and value than by coming up with imagining sustainable, renewable energy sources or a car that can run for a thousand miles per gallon," Brown said.
