Oh, yuck!

"Oh, yuck!" was what popped into my head when first I read the header of the item, below, from Slashdot.org. Of course, I would be in line to try out the product. I postulate that should I try it out on Hunky Husband, he would (not knowing its origin) pronounce that his portion was gristly.

 

3D-Printed Plant-Based Steaks Could Arrive In 2021 (engadget.com) 27

Posted by BeauHD on Thursday July 02, 2020 @06:00AM from the what-to-expect dept.

In 2021, Israeli startup Redefine Meat plans to launch a 3D printer that will allow customers to produce plant-based flank steak at home. Engadget reports: Redefine Meat says that through 3D printing, it's able to create plant-based meat with the same "appearance, texture and flavor of animal meat," according to its website. Texture specifically seems to be the 3D printer's hallmark achievement. "You need a 3D printer to mimic the structure of the muscle of the animal," Redefine Meat CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit told Reuters.

3D printing differs from other methods companies have used for reproducing meat taste and texture. Both Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat use combinations of plant-based proteins, oils and binders, like methylcellulose and potato starch, to achieve a realistic texture for their ground beef and patties -- though the texture of ground beef is arguably easier to achieve than that of steak. Atlast Food uses mushroom fibers to emulate animal tissue in its meatless bacon.

 

Comments

[Ole Phat Stu]

Over here, we put the knife on the right and the fork on the left of the plate.

[Cop Car]

Same here, Stu. I guess the printer didn't get the message. I fixed it.

OTOH: With some people, neither implement is required. I, myself, believe in consuming sandwiches, pizzas, and such from hand. Mom always said that, "Hands were invented before forks."

[Stu]

For those of you using your hands (imho unhygienic) remember that in parts of Arabia and Africa the left hand is used for wiping your arse AND they don't have toilet paper.

[bogie]

Stu - Exactly why you are supposed wash your hands before eating (not the last part, I don't live in 3rd world conditions at this time of my life).

As far as the printer - not for this gal. When I eat meat, I want it to be meat and only consist of one ingredient (hint, that ingredient is "meat"). Oh sure, sometimes I add a little butter or natural hickory or mesquite smoke seasoning, but for the most part, I don't.

Not that I'm against eating plants, on the contrary, that is what I eat most, but why in the heck do I need a plant to simulate meat? I just don't get it.

[Cop Car]

Stu--You can take it to the bank that, when I eat with my hands they are both clean. I must say that I have never been reduced to using my hand to replace TP; but, even if I were, my hand-washing (quality and quantity) is up to the task of assuring cleanliness.

Bogie--You probably eat more plants than do HH and I, put together. I think the effort in weaning us off of meat has to do with our over-population problem (feeding everyone and reducing carbon in the atmosphere). IMHO, over-population should be addressed by reducing reproduction; but, I guess wars and pestilence are also effective. So far, I've not volunteered to be a reduction, myself. That will come soon enough, despite my best efforts.

[Liz Hinds]

Oh no, I don't think so ...

[Ingineer66]

Yuck. If I want to eat a plant, I will eat a plant. I do not need it to be painted and shaped like meat.

[Cop Car]

Liz & Ingineer--At least they aren't making Soylent Green - AFAIK.

[Ole Phat Stu]

True CC. But you DO have Soylent Pink in the USA (aka Pink Slime),
which is forbidden here in Yurp, so the meat-printer in your article would have to be
a USA-only product. Canada also banned Soylent products afaik.

[Cop Car]

In general, in my neck of the woods, Soylent Pink is not exactly, synonymous with Pink Slime, but includes many processed, canned meat products. My understanding is that although Pink Slime is banned in Europe, Breef, Spam, Vienna Sausages, and other such products that fall under our usage of "Soylent Pink" are available for the European consumer. That said, the reason people objected to the original Pink Slime, was that the meat trimmings were treated with ammonia to control possible contamination - to make the product safe for consumption. Why this became a big brouhaha can only be traced to someone's active imagination IMHO since those who objected to the Pink Slime did not seemingly object to cheeses, chocolates, and bakery goods which use ammonia compounds for various reasons.

I, personally, do not use ground beef that incorporates Pink Slime because it is harder to handle in cooking (because of its texture); but, I've no problem with avoiding waste by using the product and I would point out that some who object to the ammonia in meat products don't seem to give it a second thought that the texturized soy products they consume to avoid meat is also processed with ammonia. I think that most of us are fairly ignorant about the processing used in our processed foods - and even in the treatments used on our fresh fruits and vegetables (admittedly much less in your part of the world than in ours).

As, in my explanation at the beginning of my posting, IMHO the issue is not really about food safety, but a "gross out" issue. Unless we all go back to growing our own food, I see little way of avoiding treatments that extend the "life" of foods. I do enjoy consuming my own home-grown, untreated food stuffs straight off the vine/tree/plant; but, other than chickens, I wouldn't consider growing my own meat as did all of my foremothers/forefathers within my living memory (four generations preceding me). To me, having to process meat from animals whom I've grown (as did I as a child) is much more of a gross out - lol.