Would you eat this meat?

[midjd]

I thought this was from the Onion, but nope...

www.digitaltrends.com/international/japanese-scientists-creates-meat-out-of-feces/

It's being called the "poop burger". Japanese scientists have found a way to create artificial meat from sewage containing human feces.

Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.

The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.

Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.

The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.

So... say this was the same price as regular meat (which is as low as they seem to think they can get it). Would you eat it?

[Tiny]

Reminds me of Soylent green... but then again People eat lots of icky things.
I don't eat alot of meat (or things that mimic meat)... I prefer my "recycled waste products" to be in the form of veggies and legumes, so I wouldn't go out of my way to get this new 'meat-like' product .

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.

If they keep calling it a "poop burger" I don't think people are going to overlook where it came from.

Scientists are not good marketers. They need someone to come up with a fancy exotic sounding name that does not mention the word "poop" and appeals to foodies sense of needing to be ahead of the trend.

[midjd]

Well Tbird, that begs an interesting question. Say the poop burger is made from vegetarian feces. Does that make it vegetarian?

And DQ, agreed on the marketing. If they could ensure it tastes as good or better than real meat, and emphasize the low-fat aspect, and downplay the origins, it might be possible to sell it. Heck, people know that Taco Bell is 30% "meat" but eat it regardless.

[Tiny]

I thought about this alittle more... most people are so far removed from where the food on their plate comes from I think they would get over it being a 'poop burger'. It definitely needs better marketing. If you think too much about eggs or the critters (and what has to happen to them) that those nicely packaged peices of meat come from it's kinda gross, too.

I once heard someone say they didn't eat seafood - as they couldn't eat something that lived in it's own toilet.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Say the poop burger is made from vegetarian feces. Does that make it vegetarian?


oooh. . good question! They could call it the Veggie poop burger! ;D

[Deleted]

I have a pad of paper on my desk made of elephant poop - apparently, once you wash off the undigested plant fibers, they make excellent paper pulp.

Sp, I'm all for finding a use for waste products, and I am sure there are all kind of undigested nutrients to be recovered, but has it really come to this? I can get behind elephant conservation, but I don't see the value beyond the ick factor for the people burgers.

[Deleted]

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast."

[crockpottin]

LOL Archie! ;D

I am kind of curious about how they came up with that idea in the first place. Who looks at sludge and thinks "MMMM...sludge, it's what's for dinner?"

Also, how did they find people to actually test taste it???

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Also, how did they find people to actually test taste it???

Students will do anything for some money and a free meal.

[crockpottin]

Jun 20, 2011 10:13:23 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Also, how did they find people to actually test taste it???

Students will do anything for some money and a free meal.

EWWWWWWW

[Frugal Nurse]

The whole point of eating crap-py food is that it is cheaper than regular food. If they are going to price it the same as regular meat, why would anyone be willing to purchase it?

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I can't imagine people wanting to eat this, but I could see it being put into pet food.

[Sum Dum Gai]

It sounds revolting, but I could see it working. People drink water that comes from toilets all the time. Look at a river like the Colorado. By the time the water reaches southern CA it's already been pulled out, used, and put back in like 11 times. Water issues are a bigger deal in the southwest where it's scarce so maybe you east coasters have never heard of toilet to tap, but it's not exactly a new phenomenon.

[Deleted]

It would need to be cheaper than regular meat

[seriousthistime]

People in prison complain that their diets are too heavy on soy protein. They say it causes gastrointestinal distress and feminizes them.

I wonder if they would prefer this "steak."

[hoops902]

Jun 20, 2011 17:05:39 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

It sounds revolting, but I could see it working. People drink water that comes from toilets all the time. Look at a river like the Colorado. By the time the water reaches southern CA it's already been pulled out, used, and put back in like 11 times. Water issues are a bigger deal in the southwest where it's scarce so maybe you east coasters have never heard of toilet to tap, but it's not exactly a new phenomenon.

Can you see it working when the "poop burger" costs the same as a "non poop burger" though? I don't think the issue is that it's "gross", i think it's that the "gross" option costs the same as the other option.

If you saw 2 bottles of water at the store and one said "fresh from the toilet" and another said "fresh from the spring" would you really see people picking the toilet water at the same price point? You gotta do something to make the less naturally attractive option more attractive I think.

[Sum Dum Gai]

It's all in the branding. People buy bottled water from companies that don't have water rights to any springs or anything. It's bottled tap water with a little stuff thrown in for flavoring, and they pay more for it than they do for gasoline when they can get all the tap water they want at home for pennies.

[midjd]

I don't think the article took into account the premise that meat prices will rise as the population continues to increase (since it takes so much more space and feed to produce meat vs. wheat, corn, soy). It seems as though eventually meat is going to become unaffordable to the typical consumer. Assuming this faux meat isn't hugely affected by inflation, there may be people willing to eat it if it means a break from wheat/corn/soy products. I like Boca Burgers, but nobody is ever going to mistake them for real meat.

There is also the question of whether manufacturers will need to disclose the meat's contents. If they can get a reasonable assurance that it's just as safe as other ingredients, they may be able to put it under a generic catchall title. Look at all the crap that passes for "natural flavor". And look at the pink ooze that goes into McDonald's "beef" patties - people still eat those

[Sum Dum Gai]

And look at the pink ooze that goes into McDonald's "beef" patties - people still eat those

Exactly, and it's a good thing I had Jack in the Box for lunch or I'd probably be losing it just thinking about the crud I would have been eating in McDonalds beef.

[hoops902]

Jun 20, 2011 18:35:28 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

And look at the pink ooze that goes into McDonald's "beef" patties - people still eat those

Exactly, and it's a good thing I had Jack in the Box for lunch or I'd probably be losing it just thinking about the crud I would have been eating in McDonalds beef.

Yes, but why do they eat them? Because they're convenient and CHEAP. You wouldn't buy a McDonald's pink ooze burger when you could buy a 100% beef burger for the same price in the same location would you?

[Sum Dum Gai]

You wouldn't buy a McDonald's pink ooze burger when you could buy a 100% beef burger for the same price in the same location would you?

No, but meat prices aren't the same everywhere either. We tend to have really cheap meat in the US, while it's a lot more expensive in other countries. I'm not sure which meat prices the poop burgers would mimic. They might not be viable here, but if they're the same price as our meat that would make them potentially viable elsewhere.

[midjd]

I imagine that considering its island status and size constraints, Japanese meat is pretty expensive. But I don't know whether the statement "it will eventually be as cheap as normal meat" is referring to Japanese meat or American meat...

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

People buy bottled water from companies that don't have water rights to any springs or anything. It's bottled tap water with a little stuff thrown in for flavoring, and they pay more for it than they do for gasoline when they can get all the tap water they want at home for pennies.

Not exactly. It's highly filtered tap water with some minerals added because highly filtered water isn't healthy to drink.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Would I eat it? Nope

[Deleted]

I haven't read the thread past the OP. I am not going to read about meat products being made out of waste products. I do have two comments, though.

First, Jonathan Swift, the great satirist who wrote GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and A MODEST PROPOSAL, had an interesting idea in the third book of G's T. The scientist of La Puta were trying to take food backwards . . . from waste product back into something edible. Laughable then, laughable now.

Second, a colleague was serving coffee and asking if a few of the teachers on the hall wanted "some." It was the really expensive coffee that is associated with monkey's excrement. I don't drink coffee in any form so I don't pay much attention to the details, but evidently it is now and expensive.

So your post is very much along both lines.