2025/02/21 by Mahya Tavan, Nick W. Smith, Warren C. McNabb +1 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability #Meat and Animal Product Quality
paper · doi:10.1080/10408398.2025.2461262
openalex publication_date 2025/02/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
There are currently over 170 companies in the field of cultured meat (CM) which have attracted over US3 Billion in investments since 2019. The CM industry owes much of this success to the many claims around environmental benefits and alleviating animal welfare concerns, while being equally nutritious and as acceptable as conventional meat. This review aims to provide a much needed discussion on the latest research findings concerning the nutritional and environmental sustainability of CM and provide an evidence-based discussion around some of the challenges that the industry faces today. Recent developments in the field have revealed that some of the sustainability claims of the CM industry are overly ambitious and not supported by evidence. Environmental assessments have revealed that CM production is highly energy intensive and its environmental footprint can only be improved if renewable energy sources are used. In terms of nutritional quality of CM, there are many unknowns and gaps in the knowledge that require investigation.