Food scientists are working to replicate the nutrition, as well as the texture, taste and functionalities of meat and eggs, by utilizing plant-based products and in-vitro technologies, according to a presentation at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 2012 Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Las Vegas. The average American eats 864 pounds of meat each year, according to VisualEconomics.com, a consumption level that cannot be sustained economically or environmentally, said Genovese. “The use of animals as a protein delivery mechanism is not sustainable,” said Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Savage River Farms, Inc., which recently introduced a chicken substitute made from plant products. The in-vitro process of growing artificial meat involves collecting animal cells through a biopsy (or using embryonic stem cells), isolating the cells, and then utilizing a growth serum to grow the cells into real muscle fiber, said Merko Betti, PhD, associate professor in the department of agricultural, food and nutritional science at the University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada.

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