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Q & A

FROM LAB TO TABLE

University of Guelph’s Simon Somogyi on the perceptions and implications of labgrown meat and dairy

By Carol Neshevich

LAB-GROWN meat has become a hot topic in recent years with cutting edge “cellular agriculture” tech being touted as a sustainable method of meat production. While big strides are being made (this past December, for example, Singapore gave the world’s first regulatory approval to a lab-grown chicken product) we are still likely several years away from seeing any of these kinds of products on Canadian grocery shelves. And lab-grown meat is not without its controversies and perception challenges. Simon Somogyi, Arrell Chair in the Business of Food and associate professor at the University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food & Tourism Management, is currently leading a study exploring attitudes of consumers, retailers and members of the meat supply chain toward the idea of lab-grown meat. We recently chatted with Somogyi about the study, the implications of lab-grown meat (and dairy), and what grocers can expect to see from this technology in the future. Here are edited excerpts from the interview:

Do you have any preliminary findings?

It’s early days still, but we have found the farming sector is very concerned. The concern is that this is going to be a substitute for what they provide. But it’s going to be a while before that happens. I think this provides, maybe in the short-term—the next, say, five to 10 years—an alternative to traditional meat, but it’s going to take a long time for it to completely render the farm obsolete. If anything, I think it’s just an alternative. There’s a lot of unpreparedness for this in the farming sector. Farms could even be investing in cellular agriculture and supply [both] lab-based and land-based meat to processors.

What are some other angles to consider?

I think probably the other big opportunity for cellular agriculture is milk. The technology that will be coming out very soon—probably quicker than the meat-based alternatives—is using “precision fermentation,” which is a similar type of technology, to produce milk that is chemically and physiologically identical to the milk we get out of a cow. And that will heavily disrupt the dairy sector worldwide. It’s different from, say, meat, where you’ve got different types of cuts that will require the different biological processes to make that in the lab; milk is a very basic product compared to that. So I think particularly for those processors such as ice cream makers, cheese processors, yogurt—those types of processors are going to be looking for alternatives to [cows’] milk. Then, politically, we have a complex system of supply management in Canada. The dairy sector isn’t publicly talking about lab-based products, it’s about dairy farms and dairy cows and production there. So, we’re in for some interesting times ahead.

Tell us about your study on attitudes towards lab-grown meats.

In the last five years, I think we’ve seen major development and progress in cellular agriculture—labgrown meat is another term for it—which is different from plant-based alternatives. This is chemically and physiologically the same as meat that comes from the animal. This technology really has the ability to disrupt the whole meat supply chain, particularly from what we can get further up the chain at the farm level. So we wanted to see what members of the food supply chain think about it—the barriers, the drivers of this technology, and just general perceptions; this involves farmers, wholesalers, processors and retailers. The project’s still going on, so we haven’t really seen the full results, but I think ... in the short term, there are probably two areas where it [lab-grown meat] will be beneficial: possibly in the pet food sector and in processed meats such as hamburgers and maybe even hot dogs, where you’ve got highly processed meat that’s not necessarily identifiable. That’s probably the earliest introduction we’ll get, as consumers, to lab-grown meat.

In the years ahead, what can grocers expect to see in this area?

I think grocers can expect the major processing companies to begin providing lab-based meat alternatives. They’ve already got plant-based meat alternatives, now they’re going to have lab-based. And the lab-made dairy in place of traditional dairy is definitely going to be something to take a look at. CG

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