Mahya Tavan, Nick W Smith, Warren C McNabb, Paul Wood
{"title":"Reassessing the sustainability promise of cultured meat: a critical review with new data perspectives.","authors":"Mahya Tavan, Nick W Smith, Warren C McNabb, Paul Wood","doi":"10.1080/10408398.2025.2461262","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are currently over 170 companies in the field of cultured meat (CM) which have attracted over US$3 Billion in investments since 2019. The CM industry owes much of this success to the many claims around environmental benefits and alleviating animal welfare concerns, while being equally nutritious and as acceptable as conventional meat. This review aims to provide a much needed discussion on the latest research findings concerning the nutritional and environmental sustainability of CM and provide an evidence-based discussion around some of the challenges that the industry faces today. Recent developments in the field have revealed that some of the sustainability claims of the CM industry are overly ambitious and not supported by evidence. Environmental assessments have revealed that CM production is highly energy intensive and its environmental footprint can only be improved if renewable energy sources are used. In terms of nutritional quality of CM, there are many unknowns and gaps in the knowledge that require investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":10767,"journal":{"name":"Critical reviews in food science and nutrition","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Critical reviews in food science and nutrition","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2025.2461262","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
There are currently over 170 companies in the field of cultured meat (CM) which have attracted over US$3 Billion in investments since 2019. The CM industry owes much of this success to the many claims around environmental benefits and alleviating animal welfare concerns, while being equally nutritious and as acceptable as conventional meat. This review aims to provide a much needed discussion on the latest research findings concerning the nutritional and environmental sustainability of CM and provide an evidence-based discussion around some of the challenges that the industry faces today. Recent developments in the field have revealed that some of the sustainability claims of the CM industry are overly ambitious and not supported by evidence. Environmental assessments have revealed that CM production is highly energy intensive and its environmental footprint can only be improved if renewable energy sources are used. In terms of nutritional quality of CM, there are many unknowns and gaps in the knowledge that require investigation.
期刊介绍:
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition serves as an authoritative outlet for critical perspectives on contemporary technology, food science, and human nutrition.
With a specific focus on issues of national significance, particularly for food scientists, nutritionists, and health professionals, the journal delves into nutrition, functional foods, food safety, and food science and technology. Research areas span diverse topics such as diet and disease, antioxidants, allergenicity, microbiological concerns, flavor chemistry, nutrient roles and bioavailability, pesticides, toxic chemicals and regulation, risk assessment, food safety, and emerging food products, ingredients, and technologies.