Technology That Creates Lab-Grown Chicken Meat Intrigues Big Food

A San Francisco-area start-up says it has developed the first chicken product from lab-grown cells. If the technology catches on with Big Food – Tyson Foods calls the cultured-meat technology “a good long-term proposition” – it could solve a lot of problems associated with meat processing. It might reduce the need for land and facilities to grow cattle, pigs, and poultry; cut the waste produced in meat processing; and help eliminate the costs of grain, water and waste-disposal associated with livestock. (It would also make groups like PETA happy.) It’s not exactly a cost-effective process yet, though. Boneless chicken breasts cost an average $3.22 a pound in U.S. grocery stores. Memphis Meats, which uses stainless-steel bioreactor tanks to produce its chicken, says its technology yields one pound of chicken meat for around $9,000. [ Image credit: © Memphis Meats ]