Artificial meat comes to the table, but can it really replace animal meat?

In recent years, artificial meat has attracted much attention in the global food industry. Both international food giants and domestic entrepreneurial enterprises are accelerating the pace of research and development and commercialization of artificial meat products. So how is artificial meat made? What's the difference between its nutritional value and real meat? Is it healthy to eat artificial meat?

It is understood that there are two main types of artificial meat at present. One is artificial vegetarian meat, which is also highly accepted in the market at present. This kind of meat is made of vegetable protein, especially soybean protein. This artificial meat is rich in protein and a little fat, and hemoglobin can be added to make up for the lack of color and fragrance. It is very popular among vegetarians. The second is artificially cultivated meat, the principle of which is to extract stem cells from animals, expand and culture them into muscle cells, and differentiate them into muscle fibers to become "meat". Although some experts say that the meat produced in this way can better avoid the use of antibiotics and microbial pollution, and does not need various drugs, because it is very different from the normal growth law of natural animals, the food safety supervision departments in the United States and other countries are cautious about this, and it will take time for this product to enter the market because of its technical difficulty and high cost. Therefore, at present, the artificial meat visible in the domestic and foreign markets is mainly artificial vegetarian meat.

For health reasons, more and more people in China began to pay attention to the fat intake in their diet and reduce the consumption of high-cholesterol meat products, which brought business opportunities to artificial meat enterprises. So, what is the difference between the nutritional value of artificial meat and real meat? Is it healthy to eat artificial meat? From the point of view of nutrition, the nutritional components of artificial vegetarian meat can be controlled, and meat suitable for different needs can be cultivated. In addition, there is no need to use antibiotics and animal hormones in the production process, which is less affected by sudden epidemic. Experts say that increasing the intake of plant protein can effectively improve the imbalance of dietary structure and effectively intervene chronic diseases. For the "three highs" and obese people, artificial meat can be an excellent substitute for animal meat.

However, the substitution of soybean protein meat for animal meat is very limited. Humans need diversified nutrition. Animal protein contains nutrients that plant protein does not. The nutrition of meat in nature is mainly reflected in protein and fat. Protein and its various amino acids are necessary for human health. There are 22 kinds of amino acids needed by human body, among which threonine, tryptophan, leucine, lysine and other nutrients cannot be synthesized by human body. However, these amino acids in plant protein are not enough in content and variety to meet the needs of human growth and life activities, and need to be obtained from animal meat.

Experts say that the impact of artificial meat on human health cannot be generalized. Although everyone thinks that high protein is good for human body, it is not good for people with poor kidneys to eat too much high protein food. In addition, the content of iron and other minerals in artificial meat is not as high as that in animal meat, so consumers should choose according to their needs.

This article was scientifically proofread by Shen Yingjian, deputy chief physician of Nutrition Department of Yanda Hospital, Hebei Province.