From cravings for weird foods we’ve never eaten to reaching out to the pantries from our past to a retreat to comfort foods—the pandemic has changed the way we eat in ways more than one. But even as fast food chains are relying on our desire for familiarity to make their businesses boom, KFC is setting its eyes on what it’s calling the “meat of the future”. This is for all those who want their chicken buckets big enough to swim in but are also concerned about the impact of their eating habits on the planet.
The project aims to create the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets amid the growing popularity of healthy lifestyles and demands for alternatives to traditional meat. The global fried chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken, announced on June 16 that it is creating a “restaurant of the future” to produce more environmentally friendly meat in collaboration with Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions.
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They are trying to make this as close as possible in both taste and appearance to the original. KFC is providing the bioprinting company with the spices that make it what it is. However, you might have to wait a while to taste it. Currently, it is in the process of testing; they will be receiving a final product for testing in the fall of this year.
Bioprinting is a manufacturing process in which biomaterials such as cells and growth factors are combined to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. Originally used for medical purposes, bioprinting as an ecologically healthier option is also now being considered by the food industry. In the case of these nuggets, they are using chicken cells and plant material. The fast food chain claims that at the moment, there are no other methods available on the market that could allow the creation of such complex products from animal cells. Because the products will be based on animal tissue, they will not be suitable for vegetarian or vegan diners.
Additionally, with bioprinting, you can get the same nutrients you’d get while eating actual meat, but without the additives used while farming. We doubt this can still even remotely qualify as healthy though at least it’s healthier for the planet.
“3D bioprinting technologies, initially widely recognized in medicine, are nowadays gaining popularity in producing foods such as meat,” said Yusef Khesuani, co-founder and Managing Partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions. “In the future, the rapid development of such technologies will allow us to make 3D-printed meat products more accessible and we are hoping that the technology created as a result of our cooperation with KFC will help accelerate the launch of cell-based meat products on the market.”
Citing an unlinked study by the American Environmental Science & Technology Journal, they say that the technology of growing meat from cells has a minimal negative impact on the environment. It allows energy consumption to be cut by more than half, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 25 fold, and 100 times less land is used than traditional farm-based meat production.
This is not the first time the fast food giant is trying to sell food created in the lab, though. In January, the chicken nugget connoisseur entered into a partnership with Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat substitute company, which was set to supply plant-based fried chicken to several KFC stores in Tennessee and North Carolina in the United States.
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