Cultured meat

The current food system, which is responsible for about one third of all global gas emissions, is considered one of the main causes of resource depletion. For this reason, scientific research is investigating new alternatives capable of feeding an ever-growing population that is set to reach 9-11 billion by 2050. Among these, cell-based meat, also called cultured meat, is one possible solution. It is part of a larger branch of science called cellular agriculture, whose goal is to produce food from individual cells rather than whole organisms, tracing their molecular profile...

Zoonoses, or diseases that pass between animals and humans, represent a major threat to global health and global economies. In Guinea, zoonotic diseases (e.g. rabies, Lassa fever) have been at the forefront due to recent outbreaks and government priorities. Much like many other diseases, zoonotic disease prevention demands a thorough and culturally nuanced understanding of the factors that influence preventive behaviors. To gain this knowledge and enhance risk communication for priority zoonotic diseases, this qualitative study conducted focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and observations in three Guinean prefectures...

Abscesses represent the most prominent emerging problem in the red meat industry, leading to great economic constraints and public health hazards. Data on etiological agents present in these purulent lesions in Algeria are very scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the bacteria responsible for these abscesses and to determine their antibiotic susceptibility profiles. A total of 123 samples of abscesses from 100 slaughtered sheep and 23 slaughtered cattle were cultured in several media. A total of 114 bacterial isolates were cultured from 103 abscesses...

Foodborne pathogens are a significant cause of illness, and infection with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) may lead to life-threatening complications. The current methods to identify STEC in meat involve culture-based, molecular, and proteomic assays and take at least four days to complete. This time could be reduced by using long-read whole-genome sequencing to identify foodborne pathogens. Therefore, the goal of this project was to evaluate the use of long-read sequencing to detect STEC in ground beef...

BACKGROUND: Land snails are considered a delicacy in many countries in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. However, the interaction of microbial pathogens with land snails may present a public health threat when handling and/or consuming snails. This study examines the survival of Escherichia coli in edible land snails in a model system. METHODS: Well-studied Shigatoxigenic (STEC) and non-STEC strains were compared. Mature Helix spp. were experimentally fed with E. coli -inoculated oats for 48 h...

Campylobacter spp. are significant zoonotic agents, which cause annually millions of human cases of foodborne gastroenteritis worldwide. Their inclusion in biofilms on abiotic surfaces seems to play a pivotal role in their survival outside of the host, growth, and spread. To successfully mitigate the risks that arise with these bacteria, it is crucial to decrease their prevalence within the food production chain (from farm to the table), alongside the successful treatment of the resulting illness, known as campylobacteriosis...

Marine molluscan cell lines, required for virus screening and cultivation, form essential tools for developing health management strategies for these animals in the blue economy. Moreover, they are also crucial to develop cultivated seafood. As there is no valid marine molluscan cell line, primary cell cultures are relied upon for all investigations. A sound protocol for generating primary cell cultures from molluscs is entailed, but existing protocols often involve heavy antibiotic usage and depuration that invariably affect gene expression and cell health...

Food Safety Commission, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan (FSCJ) was established in 2003 and marked its 20th anniversary in 2023. FSCJ held a commemorative ceremony and symposium to celebrate its 20th anniversary at Mita conference hall (Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo) on September 1st, 2023, which attracted a total of 164 on-site attendees including six media companies, as well as 460 online viewers. FSCJ Chairperson Dr. YAMAMOTO gave a summary of each session; Session 1 outlined the various future challenges against which risk assessment organizations must prepare...

Food Safety Commission, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan (FSCJ) was established in 2003 and marked its 20th anniversary in 2023. FSCJ held a commemorative ceremony and symposium to celebrate its 20th anniversary at Mita conference hall (Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo) on September 1st, 2023, which attracted a total of 164 on-site attendees including six media companies, as well as 460 online viewers. FSCJ Chairperson Dr. YAMAMOTO gave a summary of each session; Session 1 outlined the various future challenges against which risk assessment organizations must prepare...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) is a group of bacteria responsible for causing tuberculosis in animals and humans. In South Africa (S.A), slaughterhouses are registered by the government and closely inspected and audited for hygienic slaughter practices. Meat inspection to detect lesions has been used for passive surveillance, monitoring, and diagnosis of the disease status. Information on the current status of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in livestock in the country is limited. Hence, we investigated the occurrence of Mycobacterium spp...

Dry-salted pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) plays an important cultural role in the Amazon region - South America. In this study, we explored the changes in the chemical composition of pirarucu meat following the drying-salting process via 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Combining multivariate and univariate statistical analyses yielded a robust differentiation of metabolites involved in the process. VIP score (>1), p-value (<0.05), and AUC (>0.7) were considered to selecting compounds that had significant fluctuations in their contents along the process...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission in livestock, community, and healthcare settings poses a significant public health concern both locally and globally. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence, molecular detection, and antibiogram of the MRSA strain in fresh beef, contact surfaces, and butchers' knives from the four major abattoirs (Karu, Gwagwalada, Deidei, and Kubwa) located in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect 400 swab samples from butchers' knives (132), fresh beef (136), and contact surfaces (132)...

Selecting the primary cells in an optimal state for cultured meat production is a crucial challenge in commercializing cultured meat. We investigated the metabolomic changes in culture media according to passage numbers for indirectly assessing the state of primary cells. Pig skeletal muscle stem cells (PSCs) harvested from the biceps femoris muscles of 7-d-old crossbred pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc, LYD) were used for cell characterization. Fresh media (FM) and spent media (SM) of PSCs during passages 1 to 3 in vitro culture were prepared for metabolomics analysis...

Biased skeletal part representation is a key element for making inferences about transport decisions, carcass procurement, and use patterns in anthropogenic accumulations. In the absence of destructive taphonomic processes, it is often assumed that the abundance of different anatomical portions represents selective transport and discard patterns of human groups. Because body parts may be transported for specific products such as meat, marrow or grease, a pattern that usually attracts attention in many archaeological sites is the low proportions of appendicular epiphyses...

Foodborne pathogens compromise food safety and public health, and Salmonella spp. are among the major pathogenic bacteria that cause outbreaks worldwide. Proper surveillance through timely and cost-effective detection methods across the food animal production chain is crucial to prevent Salmonella outbreaks and agricultural losses. Traditional culture methods are labor- and resource-intensive, with lengthy turnaround times. Meanwhile, conventional molecular tools, such as PCR and qPCR, are expensive and require technical skills and equipment...

UNLABELLED: Clostridium perfringens is a prevalent bacterial pathogen in poultry, and due to the spread of antimicrobial resistance, alternative treatments are needed to prevent and treat infection. Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that kill bacteria, offer a viable option and can be used therapeutically to treat C. perfringens infections. The aim of this study was to isolate phages against C. perfringens strains currently circulating on farms across the world and establish their virulence and development potential using host range screening, virulence assays, and larva infection studies...

The prospects of developing a global market for cultured meat are arguably beginning to increase due to an increase in Scientific breakthroughs that are lowering the cost of production of cultured meat. This study aims to assess consumers' receptiveness to cultured meat by evaluating the valency of positive and negative perceptions toward cultured meat. It does this by reviewing the poll statistics of past studies that evaluated consumers' risk and benefit perceptions of cultured meat. The study's results indicated that consumers had a strong belief in the possible social, cultural and ethical benefits associated with cultured meat...

Agroecology has been proposed as a holistic approach to transform food systems that meet global food requirements with favorable environmental and social impacts. Agroecology relies on science, practices, and social movements that emphasize ecological principles, local knowledge, culture, and traditions to increase the sustainability and equity of the food system. Agroecological practices have demonstrated positive outcomes on food security and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Agroecology principles can be applied across the food system and could facilitate the integration of certain alternative protein (AP) foods to address multiple issues...

Cultured meat production relies on various cell types, including muscle stem cells (MuSCs), embryonic stem cell lines, induced pluripotent cell lines, and naturally immortalized cell lines. MuSCs possess superior muscle differentiation capabilities compared to the other three cell lines, making them key for cultured meat development. Therefore, to produce cultured meat using MuSCs, they must first be effectively separated from muscles. At present, the methods used to isolate MuSCs from muscles include (1) the pre-plating method, using the ability of cells to adhere differently, which is a biological characteristic of MuSCs; (2) the density gradient centrifugation method, using the intrinsic density difference of cells, which is a physical characteristic of MuSCs; and (3) fluorescence- and magnetic-activated cell sorting methods, using the surface marker protein on the cell surface of MuSCs, which is a molecular characteristic of MuSCs...

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can be used as a probiotic or starter culture in dairy, meat, and vegetable fermentation. Therefore, their isolation and identification are essential. Recent advances in omics technologies and high-throughput sequencing have made the identification and characterization of bacteria. This study firstly aimed to demonstrate the sensitivity of the Vitek MS (MALDI-TOF) system in the identification of lactic acid bacteria and, secondly, to characterize bacteria using various bioinformatics approaches...