Investigation of the Acceptability of Cultured Meat in University Students

Background: Over the past 20 years, cultured meat has drawn a lot of public attention as a potential solution to issues with animal husbandry, including inadequate use of natural sources, improper animal welfare practices, and possible risks to public health and safety. The novel method of producing meat through culture reduces the need for animals to produce muscle fiber, thereby obviating the necessity for animal slaughter. Apart from its ethical advantages, cultured meat presents a possible way to fulfill the expanding need for food among growing populations. The purpose of this research was to find out whether Turkish students would be willing to pay for and accept cultured meat. Technique: Method: 371 university students who willingly consented to fill out a questionnaire and provide demographic data make up the research sample. Questions from previous studies on the acceptability of cultured meat were compiled to create the survey. The research’s data collection took place in March and April of 2022. The research was completed in June 2022 after the data had been processed and analyzed. Results: The results showed that the majority of participants were female and had omnivorous eating habits. Based on the results of the Bonferroni correction test, students with a higher intention to purchase and consume cultured meat were those who received economics and business education. Students with two years of university education had a higher overall survey score than those with four years of education (p < 0.05). Furthermore, it is discovered that there is a negative correlation between the participants’ ages and their Factor 2 (using cultured meat as an alternative to industrial meat) and Factor 3 (consuming and purchasing it) section points (r = -109, p = 0.036) (r = -0.121, p = 0.019). In conclusion, university students generally have a negative outlook on health-related issues, such as eating cultured meat as an alternative.

Cultured meat from muscle stem cells: A review of challenges and prospects

Growing muscle tissue in culture from animal stem cells to produce meat theoretically eliminates the need to sacrifice animals. So-called ＂cultured＂ or ＂synthetic＂ or ＂in vitro＂ meat could in theory be constructed with different characteristics and be produced faster and more efficiently than traditional meat. The technique to generate cultured muscle tissues from stem cells was described long ago, but has not yet been developed for the commercial production of cultured meat products. The technology is at an early stage and prerequisites of implementation include a reasonably high level of consumer acceptance, and the development of commercially-viable means of large scale production. Recent advancements in tissue culture techniques suggest that production may be economically feasible, provided it has physical properties in terms of colour, flavour, aroma, texture and palatability that are comparable to conventional meat. Although considerable progress has been made during recent years, important issues remain to be resolved, including the characterization of social and ethical constraints, the fine-tuning of culture conditions, and the development of culture media that are cost-effective and free of animal products. Consumer acceptance and confidence in in vitro produced cultured meat might be a significant impediment that hinders the marketing process.

The environmental prospects of cultured meat in China

To deal with concerns in China about environmental degradation and a growth in population accompanied by increased consumption of livestock products, a meat alternative is required. This study compared the environmental impacts of producing different protein sources for nutrition, including crops, livestock products, and cultured meat. The results showed that cultured meat has the lowest land use per unit of protein and unit of human digestible energy. China＇s crops have the lowest energy use and greenhouse gas（GHG） emissions per unit of energy and protein. The energy use in cultured meat production is slightly higher than that of current pork production in China, whereas GHG emissions are lower. It is concluded that the overall impact of replacing livestock products with cultured meat would be beneficial for China＇s environment and would potentially improve food security because less land is needed to produce the same amount of protein and energy.

A case for systemic environmental analysis of cultured meat

The environmental implications of cultured meat are profound. An anticipatory life cycle assessment of cultured meat published in 2011 suggested it could have a smaller impact than agricultural meat in all categories except energy consumption. As with most technologies, cultured meat will almost certainly be accompanied by unintended consequences as well as unforeseen costs and benefits that accrue disproportionately to different stakeholders. Uncertainty associated with new engineered products cannot be completely eliminated prior to introduction, but ongoing environmental assessments of the technologies as they advance can serve to reduce unforeseen risks. Given the pace at which tissue engineering is advancing, systemic assessments of the technology will be pivotal in mitigating unintended environmental consequences.

Cultured meat in western media: The disproportionate coverage of vegetarian reactions, demographic realities, and implications for cultured meat marketing

This paper examines the media coverage of the 2013 London cultured meat tasting event, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Using major news outlets, prominent magazines covering food and science issues, and advocacy websites concerning meat consumption, the paper characterizes the overall emphases of the coverage, the tenor of the coverage, and compares the media portrayal of the important issues to the demographic and psychological realities of the actual consumer market into which cultured meat will compete. In particular, the paper argues that Western media gives a distorted picture of what obstacles are in the path of cultured meat acceptance, especially by overemphasizing and overrepresenting the importance of the reception of cultured meat among vegetarians. Promoters of cultured meat should recognize the skewed impression that this media coverage provides and pay attention to the demographic data that suggests strict vegetarians are a demographically negligible group. Resources for promoting cultured meat should focus on the empirical demographics of the consumer market and the empirical psychology of mainstream consumers.

The Meat and Potatoes of Culture

Chinese students majoring in English regularly receive a variety of courses on “foreign culture.” Most common are classes outlining British

An effective cytokine combination for ex vivo expansion of porcine muscle stem cells

Cultured meat technology is a novel and promising strategy for sustainable and effective meat production.Muscle stem cells are widely used as seed cell populations because of their ease of access and myogenic differentiation potential.However,muscle stem cells are difficult to continuously propagate ex vivo and are heavily dependent upon serum for survival and growth,which impedes their commercial use as a cultured meat source.Herein,we identified an effective four-cytokine combination to promote long-term proliferation of porcine muscle stem cells using a serial elimination screening approach,which was consisted of long chain human insulin growth factor-1,platelet derived growth factor BB,basic fibroblast growth factor,and epidermal growth factor.The expansion of muscle stem cells with the four-cytokine combination achieved a 6.31×107-fold increase in cell number after 28 days of culture with retained cell myogenic differentiation potential,and most importantly,reduced the amount of fetal bovine serum required for cell culture by at least 5%.Furthermore,the four-cytokine combination exerted the pro-proliferative function by activating PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MEK/ERK signaling pathways.This approach provides for a new means by which to industrialize the production of cultured meat.

Natural flavonoid luteolin promotes the differentiation of porcine myoblasts through activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling

A key step in the manufacturing of cultured meat is to produce myotubes by induced myogenic differentiation.The development of effective,low-cost,and food-safe components that promote the in vitro differentiation of myoblasts is essential for the industrialization of cultured meat.Flavonoids are a class of plant secondary metabolites with various biological activities,but their effects on the regulation of myoblast behaviors are a lack of study.In this study,we selected four representative flavonoids including luteolin,chrysin,apigenin,and genistein,and investigated their effects on porcine myoblasts in the aspects of proliferation,migration,and differentiation.The results showed that four flavonoids all had relatively low cell toxicity but weak ability to promote the proliferation of porcine myoblasts.A positive effect of luteolin was observed in the migration and differentiation of porcine myoblasts,as indicated by improved migration rate and fusion index,as well as upregulated expression of Myogenin and MyHC.Pharmacological inhibition of PI3K activity attenuated the efficacy of luteolin on porcine myoblasts,and further analysis showed that luteolin increased the phosphorylation of PI3K,Akt,and mTOR,indicating the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.In conclusion,these findings showed that luteolin promoted the migration and differentiation of porcine myoblast via the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling,providing biological evidence for its application in cultured meat production.