‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Where's the Beef?: The lab-grown-meat revolution that wasn't

75 points · 166 comments · Hooke

  1. dinkblam · · focus · HN ↗
    it is sad how the lobbying of old evil industries like tobacco and animal-killing can convince the politicians and the public to outlaw and demonize their less-evil competition like vaping and lab-grown meat to make sure to hold on to the status quo.

    but why write more than 7000 words to communicate a simple point (lab-grown meat was promised 1-2 decades ago but failed to arrive and won't arrive in the foreseeable future)?

    1. cpursley · · focus · HN ↗
      Is it just pure lobbying or perhaps also consumer preference? Because there’s plenty of money to be made across the entire agriculture and food and production spectrum in the processing of the goop that goes into these types of products. I think a lot of people honestly would rather eat a real vegetarian diet (Indian, etc) than the ultra processed soy beans and various chemical binders wearing a meat Halloween costume.
      1. Cpoll · · focus · HN ↗
        > the ultra processed soy beans and various chemical binders wearing a meat Halloween costume.

        This reads like propaganda. Take tofurkey for example, it's just seitan and tofu and the same "chemical binders" you'll see in every other product in the freezer aisle.

        And tofu is only as "ultra-processed" as cheese or bread is.

        1. cpursley · · focus · HN ↗
          Yeah, tofu is not even in the same class as the synthetic burgers. Take a second and go read their ingredient lists. I’m gonna go with the Indian or falafel meal, which happens to be delicious. Which I think is the choice consumers are making.
          1. Cpoll · · focus · HN ↗
            I assume you're talking about Impossible Burger and its ilk. Stuff like methylcellulose (non-digestible fiber) and L-Tryptophan (present in meat and eggs, added here to supplement nutrition) sound scary, but they're everywhere as boring nutritional additives.

            The only odd one is soy leghemoglobin, which comes from soybeans but mimics meat hemoglobin. It's just part of the legume, though.

            The only troubling thing on the ingredients list is how much oil they put into it, but you can make the same complaint with 70/30 meat burgers. The macros are bad, but most burgers are.

            I hope you use fresh turmeric for your Indian meal, because the powdered stuff is sometimes adulterated with lead oxide.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.