Is Lab-Grown Meat Ultra-Processed?
Lab-grown meat, also known as cultivated meat or cell-based meat, has been praised as a revolutionary innovation in the food production industry.
Supporters highlight its potential to reduce environmental impact, improve global food security, and provide healthier alternatives to traditional meat.
However, beneath these claims lies a heated debate about its nutritional profile, sustainability credentials, and whether lab-grown food should be considered ultra-processed.
This blog post will explore how lab-grown meat is made, examine its sustainability claims, and raise concerns about its classification as ultra-processed food. Could this futuristic food be too good to be true? Let us find out.
What Is Lab-Grown Meat?
Lab-grown meat, also called cellular agriculture, is created by cultivating animal cells in a controlled environment rather than raising and slaughtering animals.
Here is how the process typically works:
- Cell Collection: Cells are taken from a living animal, such as a cow or chicken, without harming it. These cells can include muscle and fat cells.
- Cell Cultivation: The collected cells are placed in a nutrient-rich culture medium, which provides the necessary vitamins, minerals, and growth factors for them to multiply and form tissue.
- Tissue Growth: Over weeks or months, the cells grow in bioreactors that mimic the natural environment of the animal’s body, producing muscle and fat tissue.
- Harvesting: Once the tissue matures, it is harvested and processed to create a product that resembles traditional meat.
At its core, cultivated meat begins as animal cells, but the process of growing it in a lab instead of farming it raises significant questions about its categorization as food.
Is Lab-Grown Meat Ultra-Processed?
The term “ultra-processed food” typically refers to products made from industrial processes involving highly refined ingredients, chemical additives, and little resemblance to the original food source.
On the surface, lab-grown meat appears to differ from this definition. After all, it originates from actual animal cells, not synthetic materials.
However, critics argue that the procedure to grow and produce lab-grown meat makes it a classic example of ultra-processed food.
Here’s why:
- Chemical Additives:
The nutrient-rich culture medium required to grow lab-grown meat often contains synthetic growth factors, amino acids, and other compounds. These are essential to support tissue formation but are far from “natural.”
- Artificial Texture and Flavoring:
Because cellular meat lacks the fibrous texture and taste of conventionally farmed meat, additional processing steps—such as texturization and flavoring—are often necessary to make it palatable.
- High Degree of Industrial Manipulation:
Every step, from the initial cell cultivation to the final processing, takes place in a highly controlled industrial environment. The end product is no longer simply meat but a highly altered version of it.
This industrial process fits many of the criteria for ultra-processed foods increasingly linked to health concerns such as obesity, metabolic disorders, and cardiovascular disease (Lane et al., 2024).
The Health Debate
Proponents argue that lab-grown meat has the potential to be healthier than traditional meat because it can be engineered to contain less saturated fat or cholesterol.
Yet, the long-term health effects of consuming such highly processed products remain unknown.
Foods that fall under the ultra-processed category are associated with additives, emulsifiers, and other chemical compounds that might not benefit long-term health.
If lab-grown meat is categorized here, it could inadvertently worsen public health despite its initial promise.
Is Lab-Grown Meat Truly Environmentally Friendly?
One of the most significant selling points of lab-grown meat is its ability to reduce the environmental impact of traditional livestock farming.
Advocates claim it requires less land, emits fewer greenhouse gases, and consumes less water. But how accurate are these claims? Here’s a closer look.
Energy Consumption
Lab-grown meat production requires massive amounts of energy to maintain bioreactors at the optimal conditions for cell growth.
When powered by fossil fuels, this could result in a carbon footprint comparable to or even higher than that of conventional meat production.
Resource Use
While cellular agriculture saves water and land compared to traditional farming, the need for advanced facilities, growth media, and continuous energy calls into question its sustainability.
E-Waste and Infrastructure
The equipment and infrastructure required to produce lab-grown meat introduce additional sustainability challenges.
For instance, managing electronic waste and ensuring that production bioreactors remain functional over time can strain the environment.
Although lab-grown meat claims to have a smaller environmental footprint than conventional farming, critics such as Pat Thomas from Beyond GM suggest that these claims may be overhyped (Ghosh, 2025). More research needs to be done to determine whether it is more sustainable.
Why Some Are Calling for a Ban on Lab-Grown Meat
Given the concerns around its classification as ultra-processed food, health implication debates, and questionable sustainability claims, some countries have taken preemptive actions against lab-grown food. For instance:
- Italy has imposed bans on lab-grown food, voicing concerns over both health and cultural implications.
- The US states of Alabama and Florida have also moved to restrict lab-grown meat within their jurisdictions.
Critics argue that bringing lab-grown meat to the mainstream market could divert attention from whole, natural foods that are healthier and more sustainable.
This raises an ethical question for European policymakers and consumers: Are they prioritizing technological innovation over measurable benefits for human health and environmental sustainability?
Should Lab-Grown Meat Be Banned in the UK?
The prospect of lab-grown meat arriving on UK supermarket shelves as early as 2027 has sparked considerable debate.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is actively working with companies and academic researchers to accelerate the approval process for lab-grown foods.
However, concerns remain about safety checks, conflicts of interest, and the actual benefits of these products.
Proponents argue that banning lab-grown meat halts innovation, but critics suggest that the focus should shift toward encouraging natural, minimally processed food options.
Before introducing these foods to the masses, it is essential to understand the long-term effects of consuming them and their environmental footprint.
What Should Consumers Do?
While lab-grown meat is still experimental in the UK, people should approach it with a critical mindset.
For now, the best way to support sustainable and healthy food systems is to focus on whole, minimally processed foods.
Lab-Grown Meat Poses More Questions Than Answers
Lab-grown meat is a technological leap in food production, promising environmental and ethical solutions.
However, its ultra-processed nature, potential environmental challenges, and unproven health impacts suggest its benefits may not outweigh its drawbacks.
