Wild Type is a company operating in California and known for developing cell-based lab salmon. The company has rolled out the very first tasting of the product in the form of ceviche, spicy salmon rolls, and other delicacies. What’s the catch? It is not available for the public mouth yet.
Wild Type is currently trying to sort out a few issues – namely price – and aims to compete with the natural salmon markets at the price of eight dollars a pound. Cell-based lab meats have come a long way during the last few years, but the pricing still remains an issue. According to Wild Type, it cost the company $200 to create the spicy salmon roll that was served at the tasting.
Taste is another factor that needs to be taken care of when it comes to cell-based meat. A taster at the Wild Type recent presentation was satisfied with the texture but had reservations about the taste, and said, ‘The tasting culminated in a sample of the raw product itself. Served in a canning tin, the Wild Type salmon appeared a bit dull, lacking some of the vibrant colors of wild coho. While the texture closely approximated wild fish, the taste, however, was lacking. It wasn’t unpleasant nor unfamiliar. Just faint.’
The consumption of meat has been on the rise, and it has grave consequences for international food security. That is why scientists have been trying to develop lab meats for quite some time now since they are less energy demanding and provide a more ethical solution for the meat demand.
According to Hanna Tuomisto, a journalist, ‘Meat production is one of the major contributors to global environmental degradation, especially deforestation, global warming, fresh water scarcity and loss of biodiversity. Currently, meat production uses almost one-third of the global land area, which amounts to more than 70% of the total agricultural land; and one-fifth of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from meat production.