Under the new norm of COVID -19 pandemic, many countries have adopted anti-epidemic measures such as customs closures and embargoes to prevent the spread of virus. However, those measures have hindered the export of food and agricultural products, resulting in a price hike. The United Nations has warned that a full-blown famine is expected this year, and thus increasing food supply becomes extremely vital.

In the wake of technological advancement, synthesized food is not a dream anymore. Some corporates have incubated new kind of food successfully in laboratory. The end product, commonly known as the ‘plant-based meat’, has similar texture and taste of slaughtered livestock and adopted by restaurants.

‘Plant-based meat’ is one type of “new meat” and originates from plant protein extracts such as beans or sugar beets. It is available in the market for quite some time. Some start-up companies even make use of 3D printing technology to tune and mold different meat shapes and composition ratios based on data, thereby reducing production costs; Another kind of “new meat” is called the cultured meat, which is created by growing animal stem cells to muscle tissues, or commonly referred as artificial meat, with the help of technology. The production cost and skill are relatively high, coupled with unsolved debate in moral issue, cultured meat is thereby only available in Singapore for the time being.

Scientists claimed that ‘new meat’ benefits the world by replenishing food supply whilst reducing greenhouse gas emission, fulfilling the concept of sustainability and environmental protection, from farming industry. The opponents, however, are worried that the additives released during the new meat production process may be harmful to consumers’ health because there is no regulation on “new meat” labels at present. For instance, coconut oil, an ingredient of plant-based meat, contains high level of saturated fat, prolonged intake may elevate the cholesterol level in the body. In addition, it is said that more greenhouse gases are emitted during the new meat production, which intensifies the problem of greenhouse effect on the contrary. Therefore, whether “new meat” is beneficial is still in debate.

 

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