Fake Meat: If You Saw It Made Would You Eat It?

Fake Meat: If You Saw It Made Would You Eat It?

After reading some articles on the often hidden way fake meat is processed, the numerous chemicals they contain, and the huge push for people to buy it, count me out. I’m not a customer.

Let’s start with how they manufacture this product called "fake" "meat" or "fish." They actually use cells from an animal (muscle cells) or fish that are cultured in a vat or, perhaps as a start, in a petrie dish. A petrie dish is a round, shallow, clear dish with a flat lid used to culture microorganisms, or in this case, cells from the creature. Or they use plant-based proteins that are cobbled together in a factory. https://drcate.com/what-is-synthetic-meat-and-how-is-it-made/  

Heads of these companies prefer the word cultured to the word cultivated. It’s the same difference. Starting at the beginning, muscle stem cells are taken from a live cow. This ensures that the cells are still living when ready for the processing process.

Did you know that these meat cells are nourished on baby calf, fetus blood? This is called "fetal bovine serum." A fancy word for reality. According to Dr. Cate, in order to make one "meat burger," you need 50 quarts of blood for the whole proces. That means they take a pregnant cow, cut her belly to remove the fetus, harvest it’s blood, and kill the mom. It takes between 90 and 333 infant cows for each "burger." Are you hungry yet?

Now, they put these stem cells into a container with a lattice-like substance to which they can attach and grow. They look like microscopic openwork baskets made of collagen or fibrin proteins. This means when you eat the synthetic meat, each bite will hold the container as well as the meat cells.

So, what else do these cells in this "burger" contain as you bite into them? The manufacturer added nutrients to the feeding solution, so that may mean that some of those migrated into the meat. However, artificial meat does not make it’s own nutrients. More important, all of what’s added is a "proprietary" secret, so that means we’re not permitted to know. They’re also not obligated to list every ingredient for you.

Since lab-grown meat does not make fat or connective tissues, they may add seed oils. Many of the oils are cleaned, deodorized, and heavily processed, and are not the best for your body. They also contain a high ratio of linoleic acid which has been implicated in increasing inflammation in the body. Deodorizing may come from chemicals that leave toxic traces in the end product. Heat from cooking the "burger" would increase their toxicity.

Since the cooking process may use extra oil on high heat to sear the meat, lets take a deeper look at the oil. Then we’ll go back to "meat."

According to: https://hbsn.amegroups.org/article/view/19226/20413#B3 , frying foods in hot oil is toxic to your body cells and also to your genes. Most seed oils contain poly-unsaturated fatty acids. In high heat, they break down by a process where oxygen changes chemicals into peroxides and hydroperoxides. These are toxic free-radicals that lead to cell damage and are often at the root of a variety of diseases. 

Search Assist says that they are unstable molecules. They have one electron that has no mate. This molecule then grabs electrons from healthy cells leading to damage and changes in the DNA. That can be a precursor to cancer, heart disease and aging.

Now, lets look at "Fake fish." Wildtype is the company that makes these pink slabs that are put on dinner plates in some high-end restaurants. Dr. Mercola received a warning letter from the FDA shortly after he pubished articles sharing secrets about fake meat and especially concocted salmon. By the way, Wildtype received approval for their product from the same FDA. This was in spite of the fact that there was no known evidence of safety tests being run. However, the FDA trusted the company who assured them that their product was safe. 

According to the CEO, Justin Kolbeck, they fed their cells "a mix of vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fats." Part of the approval was because they used substances that were already recognized by the FDA as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe)."

Normally, products receiving this designation had many years of safety studies behind them. This company started doing research and development in 2018. "Jaydee Hanson, a policy director for the Center for Food Safety," is an expert in synthetic biology. His comment? "Outrageous."  https://takecontrol.substack.com/p/lab-grown-salmon-fda-approval 

Are there other things in the product that we might want to know about? Let’s dig a  little deeper. Oops. The "proprietary cell nutrient blend," is a secret. Also, the substance used to give the result a nice pink hue is also a mystery.

Lab grown "fish" are colored in their watery bath of nutrients which also contains antibacterial substances and "cell growth promoters like FGF2." The National Library of Medicine shares this about Fibroblast Growth Factor. "It is a potent stimulator of growth and differentiation in multiple tissues." It also has a role in "function of multiple organ systems."

The company apparently "rinses" the substance off of the product. However, knowing how submerged cells receive by osmosis the substances in which they’re surrounded makes one wonder. This all raised a red flag for me. Does this mean that FGF2 could stimulate or cause to grow and function certain cells that we don’t want in our body?

https://takecontrol.substack.com/p/lab-grown-salmon-fda-approval 

Then that pesky Dr. Mercola raised another red flag. He’s convinced that the "globalists" are "working to replace animal husbandry with lab-grown meat." We noticed that a certain very wealthy individual has been investing in a company in California that makes "Lab-Grown Meat." UPSIDE Foods, just received USDA approval. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-backed-lab-grown-195311408.html 

And then there’s the trusted group, The Childdren’s Health Defense." https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/lab-grown-meat-fake-food-biotech-industry-cola/ 

In an article posted December 18, 2023. They actually posted an article writen by Dr. M., "Lab-Grown Meat’s Dirty Secrets: No Oversight, Rampant Bacteria.

He shares about Elize van Hamelen, a Dutch investigative journalist who shared concerns about the bacterial and viral contamination in these products. She raised the issue that they use cells "that proliferate very quickly." A fetus is one type of cell. The big C is another one.

Cells have no immune systems so antibiotics are sometimes used. There is also a concern that there can be mutations in the lab-grown cells.  https://ftloscience.com/lab-grown-meat-safe-harmful-chemicals/ 

Italy has banned production and sale of lab-grown meat. Not long afterwards, Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, also banned them in his state. One concern that some have is that the cells that are being used are like those used in medical research. They may be "pre-cancerous." 

Another concern was triggered by recent studies that indicated the potential for "certain ingredients" used "in lab-grown meat could trigger heart related problems." SLH is a genetically modified soy leghemoglobin" that can mimic the taste and texture of normal beef. Animal studies raised the concern that this chemical was implicated in inflammation, signs of kidney issues and weight gain.

https://tacomaencounter.org/news/a-critical-examination-of-hidden-health-issues-in-lab-grown-meat/

No "bon appetit" for me.

Stay healthy.

Nancy L. Pidutti, PhD, NHH, author, Chaplain, nurse.