Alternative Protein Sources

Meat consumption is growing worldwide and is expected to increase even more as greater wealth in developing economies shifts dietary preferences.

The carbon footprint associated with meat production has raised questions about its sustainability, so what are the alternatives?

Meat production is inherently inefficient when compared to the production of vegetables and grains. Even for chickens, the most efficient meat-producing animals, it is estimated that nine calories of grain-based feed are required to produce one calorie of chicken meat. So, the tendency of populations to eat more meat only increases the pressure on agricultural systems to meet the demands of population growth.

Of course, the main attraction of a meat-based diet is that it provides an excellent source of complete protein to fulfill human nutritional needs. The question that many people are now asking is whether there are alternative sources of protein that can be sustainably produced and serve as suitable meat replacements.

There are three main approaches to producing alternatives to meat protein, each of which brings inherently different challenges and opportunities:

The first strategy is to produce plant-based meat

Instead of using animals to convert plants into meat, plant-based ingredients can be converted to a meat-like product that mimics the nutritional composition, texture and flavor of conventional meat.

This is now a well-developed commercial segment with companies like ‘Impossible Foods’ and ‘Beyond Meat’. Although progressing rapidly, this source of meat alternatives is in its infancy and will undoubtedly advance as new crops are developed and new additives are identified to create products that are virtually indistinguishable from conventional meat.

The second strategy is to use microbial fermentation

Microbial fermentation can be used to produce the next generation of alternative protein and meat alternatives. Examples of fermentation-based alternative-protein production employ filamentous fungi that exhibit fast growth and a high protein content to convert sugars and other plant-derived nutrients into proteins with desirable functional properties.

This fermentation strategy has a high degree of flexibility in selecting or engineering the precise microbial strain to produce a specific target protein. This strategy has developed rapidly and is expected to provide the basis to produce ‘designer’ ingredient proteins cost-effectively and at scale.

The third strategy is to produce meat by directly cultivating animal cells in a laboratory or industrial-scale bioreactor

This is the most recent innovation and, so far, is still at an experimental stage that has not yet reached commercial-level production in terms of cost or scale. However, it is estimated to be vastly more efficient in terms of land use, water use and greenhouse-gas emissions.

These alternative-protein production strategies are in their infancy but hold the promise for protein production that is:

1. Local and can be produced essentially anywhere.
2. Safe, in that microbial fermentation or cell cultures would be grown in controlled, sterile conditions without pesticides and free of zoonotic diseases.
3. Sustainable, in that these production strategies reduce land use, water use and greenhouse-gas emissions.
4. Ethical, by reducing the impact of protein production on the planet and preventing the exploitation of animals.

TOPIAN ’s Novel Foods will help transform food production in this region, in full alignment with NEOM ’s sustainability ambitions.

In subsequent articles I will delve into the pros and cons of each one of these three strategies.