Meat+Poultry - December 2021 - 37

On Sept. 2, FSIS asked for comments and
information regarding the labeling of meat
and poultry products made using cultured
cells derived from animals. FSIS will then use
those comments from industry stakeholders to
regulate the labeling of cultured food products.
On the innovation side, the USDA has
taken a big step forward in advancing cultured
meat technology. The federal administration
awarded Tufts University $10 million to
establish the National Institute for Cellular
Agriculture. The five-year grant will include
researchers from Tufts, Virginia Tech, Virginia
State, University of California at Davis,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
University of Massachusetts at Boston who will
pool their research in cellular agriculture and
publish their findings.
The " center of excellence " that the
USDA funded will be a " one stop shop " for
peer-reviewed research in the key areas of
innovation in cell-cultured meat, including
isolating the proper cells (or cultivars) for
production, scaffolding and, most importantly,
bringing costs down, said David Kaplan, the
head of the project and the Stern Family
Professor in Engineering at Tufts.
Kaplan hopes to bring everyone into
the tent from consumer experts to lifecycle
analysts to food economists.
" The long-term goal is to integrate and work
with everyone. We're agnostic about that. We
want to work with industry. We want to work
with farmers, with K through 12 education, "
he said.
The USDA made the grant available through
the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's
(NIFA) Sustainable Agricultural Systems
program which addresses problems with our
food system and infrastructure.
A spotlight has been thrown on the issue of
food insecurity recently as the country learned
to live with the outbreak of COVID-19.
" The pandemic really demonstrated a lot
of the fragilities we have in the food system
and our supply chains, " said Zak Weston,
Foodservice & Supply Chain manager at the
Good Food Institute.
Alternative proteins offer a new way to
produce animal meat without as many resource
inputs as traditional livestock farming. Plantbased
and cell-cultured meats offer a lot
of advantages to countries with less arable
www.meatpoultry.com | 12.21 | MEAT+POULTRY 37
land and few neighboring trade partners, like
Israel, or island nations, like Singapore. Both
countries have invested heavily both privately
and publicly in alternative proteins.
Alternative proteins represent a new way
of producing meat and dairy products that
can make the infrastructure of food stronger,
Weston said. " Food system resilience has
been a lot more salient for policymakers and
something that will have a lot of benefits for all
of the alternative protein sector. "
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROACH
The approach of most plant-based and cultured
meat companies is not to displace but be an
alternative to animal protein products, Weston
said. This has been represented in how the
incumbent stakeholders in the meat industry
have been investing in alternative proteins.
Stakeholders in foodservice have adopted
and partnered with some of the big players in
plant-based meats to cater to a new generation
of consumers.
Beyond Meat announced its global
partnership with Yum! Brands to bring plantbased
protein menu items to participating KFC,
Pizza Hut and Taco Bell locations over the next
several years. Additionally, Beyond announced
a three-year partnership with McDonald's Corp.
to be the preferred supplier of its McPlant
burger patty and to co-develop other plantbased
menu items for chicken, pork and egg.
Impossible Foods released its plantbased
chicken nuggets in September with
an announcement that the product will be
expanding into 10,000 grocery stores by the end
of the year and at some Fat Brand restaurants.
It also announced its plant-based pork.
" The long-term
goal is to
integrate and
work with
everyone.
We're agnostic
about that.
We want to
work with
industry. "
- DAVID KAPLAN
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat+Poultry - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat+Poultry - December 2021
