Meat+Poultry - August 2017 - 94

NON-TRADITIONAL PROCESSING

"The world
will not stop
consuming
meat."
- ERIC SCHULZE

exactly identical.
The inefficiency of current methods of
meat production were emphasized by Schulze.
Noting that plants are able to convert sunlight
into energy at a 10 percent efficiency rate,
animals then eat the plants, also converting
into energy at most a 10 percent efficiency rate.
Finally, people consume meat, converting into
energy at a rate of at most 10 percent.
"So, 0.1 percent of sunlight is converted
into us," he said. "It's very inefficient. We can
do better."
While optimistic about the future of clean
meat, Schulze said there is no prospect for the
end of animal agriculture.
"The world will not stop consuming meat,"
he said. "We are not trying to eliminate meat. It
is a growing market."
Schulze said demand for meat is expected
to double by the year 2050, further straining
already stretched production resources.
Noting that the global meat market is
valued at $750 billion per year, for context he
said that compares with a global smart phone
market worth $430 billion per year.

According to Eric
Schulze, Ph.D., it
takes 23 grams
of energy to
produce a single
gram of meat.

MEAT+ POULTRY | 08.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

Good Food Institute

94

Expanding on Specht's comments about
sustainability, Schulze said production of
a single 1,600-lb. steer from birth to shelf
requires 3½ Olympic sized swimming pools
of fresh water to yield 440 lbs. of beef. Using
clean meat technology, 440 lbs. of meat may be
produced with only a single bathtub of water,
he said.
Speaking about progress made to date at
Memphis Meat, Schulze said the company's
production of meatballs, duck meat and
chicken meat was a great validation of the
potential for the technology.
"We showed we can do mammals and
avians," he said, adding that muscle function is
vastly different between birds and mammals.
He said a Wall Street Journal writer who
tasted the product described it as delicious.
"Currently, it takes 23 grams of energy to
produce a single gram of meat," Schulze said.
"Our goal is to produce a gram of meat with 3
grams of energy."
Longer term, the nutrient brew used to
cultivate clean meat may be customized
for healthfulness, incorporating vitamins
and minerals and with the fatty acid tissue
optimized, Schulze said.
Healthfulness also will come in the absence
of pathogens, he said.
"There are trillions of bacteria at the
grocery store," he said.
Schulze said with the elimination of
pathogenic bacteria, clean meat will have
longer shelf life.
"Our products do not spoil at a normal
rate," he said. "They last much longer in
storage. Upward of weeks. The one thing that
will make our product go bad or spoil is light,
not bacteria."
While Memphis Meat is looking to
commercialize its product by 2020-21, bringing
down the cost of production will be key. Costs
have been lowered from $18,000 per pound
1½ years ago to $6,000 three months ago and
$3,800 most recently. Ultimately, the company
is seeking to produce clean meat at cost parity
with conventional products.
Clearing misperceptions about clean
meat was the subject of the final panelist's
presentation. Rebecca Cross, an attorney with
Davis White Tremaine LLP, San Francisco, said
clean meat is a food, not a drug or an additive.
She said regulators are aware of and ready
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