Draft #3 Technical Report_Increasing awareness of cultured meat as a sustainable food alternative for Singapore

1. Introduction

1.1. Background information

This proposal has been developed in response to a call made by the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to recommend our solutions given the team’s high interest in sustainable solutions.

1.1.1 Food Sustainability

The team looked at food sustainability. Food sustainability looks into the production, distribution, packaging and consumption of food (Ackers, 2019). For instance, having sustainable farming practices, a low environmental impact, and protecting public health are all essential factors that determine food sustainability. These factors ensure that the amount of farm produce is either consistent or increasing. These also ensure that natural resources are neither wasted nor damaged, and that is it healthy and safe for consumption, which means that there are no hazardous pesticides and chemicals, non-essential antibiotics or growth promotion supplements (Ackers, 2019).

1.1.2 Emerging Food Technology

From a survey conducted by Team FoodTech, it is found that a large number of SIT students are not aware of cultured meat, a sustainable solution (refer to Appendix). Ewing-Chow (2019) defined cultured meat as “livestock agriculture’s lab-based response to the vertical farming movement”. A number of cells are first extracted from the animal and then placed into a growth medium (to support growth cells) where they are proliferated. Later on, the cells are transferred into a bioreactor to multiply them rapidly.  Muscle fibres are collected after the medium solution and meat residue are disposed of (Sriram & Ling, 2019).

1.1.3 Motivations behind cultured meat 

The world population is increasing and the same is true for the consumption of conventional meat. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2006), it is estimated that meat consumption will double in the next forty years. In addition, the organization stated that the amount of conventional meat production is close to its maximum production capability. This means conventional meat will become significantly less and thus more expensive. Conventional meat

1.1.4 Benefits of cultured meat

There are several benefits of cultured meat that will be covered in this section of the report. In relation to health, in-vitro meat (also known as cultured meat), can be created to be healthier than conventional meat by altering the content of the culture medium, fat content and fatty acid composition of cultured meat (Baht, Kumar and Fayaz, 2015). In addition, the ratio of saturated to polyunsaturated fatty acids could also be manipulated. According to the article by Baht, Kumar and Fayaz (2019), harmful saturated fats could be substituted by healthy fats, such as omega-3. Apart from cultured meat being made healthier, the stringent quality standards also significantly reduce the likelihood of contamination, and exposure to hazardous substances used in traditional meat production systems, such as pesticides, arsenic, dioxins, and hormones.

From an economic standpoint, there is a significantly shorter time needed to cultured meat, as compared to the conventional process of raising livestock. Currently, it takes months for chickens and years for pigs and cows before the meat is obtained and commercially available. However, cultured only requires weeks to culture, and the energy and labour needed for every 1kg of cultured meat is also significantly lower, as the time required to maintain the tissue is much less.

The last benefit is that cultured meat production systems are more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient compared to traditional factory farming. According to several researchers, in-vitro meat production systems could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from raising livestock by as much as 90% and the use of land and water resources for raising meat by up to 80% (Fox 2009; Schneider 2013). Tuomisto and de Mattos (2011) estimated that in-vitro meat involves 7-45% less energy than conventionally produced meat, 78-96% lower emissions of greenhouse gases, 99% lower land use, and 82-96% lower water use assuming that cyanobacteria can be used as a source of nutrients and energy.

1.2. Problem statement

 [Ideal]

Cultured meat, an alternative food solution can be more prevalent in Singapore. The meat is more sustainable and ecologically friendly as compared to conventional meat.

[Gap]

However, cultured meat is not widely known in Singapore. In a survey conducted by Team FoodTech, majority of respondents who are Singapore students, are unaware of cultured meat.

[Goal]

SIT@Dover has to be a testbed for future opportunities involving cultured meat. Cultured meat can be made available at one of the cafeterias in the institute. Members of the public who are keen to try could visit the stall.

1.3. Purpose statement

The report aims to bring together Singapore-based Shiok Meats and a canteen vendor at Canopy Food Court at SIT@Dover cafeteria to introduce cultured meat, serving as a trial and a testbed.

2. Proposed solution

In order to boost awareness for cultured meat, more opportunity should be generated for students and staff from the institute to try out. We planned to seek approval from Shiok Meats to allow canteen vendor from SIT@Dover to sell their cultured meat products to generate public awareness and opportunities for all stakeholders.

2.1 Shiok Meats at SIT@Dover

Shiok Meats is a local startup company that specialises in growing seafood from stem cells. In short, the company grows cultured crustacean meat. They have their own rendition of the ‘Siew Mai’, a popular Chinese dumpling which consists of their lab-grown shrimps. According to Sriram & Ling (2019), several people have emailed them to enquire where to get the products from. The company had also garnered high interest from various restaurants and supermarkets. Although there is a limited number of people who have tried the product,  Siu, managing director of Good Food Institute APAC claimed that it tasted similar to the regular ones.

The team interviewed available vendors at the time of research in regards to their opinion on cultured meat. The western stall representative at Canopy Canteen in SIT@Dover stood out most as its menu consists of several dishes that could go well with seafood. Thus, the team have deemed the stall to be ideal in selling cultured meat. The stall has plans to replace the real meat in some present food choices and develop new dishes with products made by the company Shiok Meat. The stall owner plans to use the monitor already at his stall to showcase the technology behind cultured meat since in research by team member Zaki proved that displays can boost the chance of people trying cultured meat.

2.2  Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

The Singapore government’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is currently in the early stages of developing clean meat technology and the team is sure that involving the agency to use the trial for research purposes will help Singapore in its sustainability goals.

 3. Benefits of proposed solutions

From the perspective of stakeholders, there are numerous advantages.

3.1. Singapore Institute of Technology(SIT)

The Western stall will attract people all over Singapore into SIT given how unheard of cultured crustaceans are to Singaporeans and students. The institution will gain some publicity which in turn may turn heads in the industry to look into cultured meat. Furthermore, SIT students from the course specializing in food technology would be able to get up close with cultured meat, which gives a different learning experience.

3.2 Shiok Meats

Shiok Meats could turn into the main leading cultured meat distributor if the company continues to develop the technology while learning from the opportunity of working with the Singapore Institute of Technology. The company may see more investors join the company towards a more sustainable future.

3.3 Increased Awareness and Food Security

In the long run, if Singapore faces a sudden change in its food imports and cultured meat is already introduced to the wider population of Singapore, then the city-state would be able to withstand the troubling times. Cultured meat if more known by the mass population can bring about more investments into the technology behind it.

4. Evaluation

Despite the advantages these solutions could bring, their limitations should be considered. After weighing the benefits and limitations of the solutions, the team suggests to set up the western stall in collaboration with not only Shiok Meats but A*STAR too. Listed below are the limitations that are foreseen and considered.

4.1. Cost of Cultured Meat

While cultured meat has its obvious benefits, there is still a major constraint in terms of the cost of producing cultured meat. In fact, certain reports have estimated that it would require 5  to 10 years for cultured meat to be accessible on a commercial scale (Begum, 2019).  Currently, cultured meat is expensive due to the pricey culture media needed to feed the cells. According to Begum (2019), Dr Ng stated that the price of 1kg of cultured meat was US$2.4 million, and the price reduced to US$5,000 in 2017. While this shows a reduction in the price of cultured meat, it is still expensive.  Dr Ng also mentioned that existing research on lab-grown meat is still in development, and only minced meat and fillings are likely to be available by 2030. This means that more complex meat such as a slice of beefsteak or chicken fillet would require more technology to produce the texture and taste that consumers desire, as mentioned by Dr Ng. The use of additional technology would, in turn, increase the cost of cultured meat.

4.2. Approval from Health Science Authority (HSA)

The HSA guarantees the safety of food that is sold in Singapore. They might not approve the trial to be conducted in SIT@Dover due to safety concerns. Therefore, it may take a while before the trial can begin as food tests have to be conducted and evaluated first. Though the food tests take time, it will ensure the food consumed by students and visitors are safe to eat.

4.3. Possible overcrowding

It is possible that due to the increase of people entering the canteen to try cultured crustaceans, the canteen might get overcrowded which may impact the time it takes for people to get food as well as around the place. This problem can be solved through the use of queue numbers.

5. Methods of Procedure

This section detailed on the types of sources we extracted information from for our report.

5.1. Primary Research

For our project’s primary research, these are the types of research we have carried out - survey, direct observation, and interview.

5.1.1. Survey

The team has conducted a survey which consists of 4 questions and has [no. of participants]. The reasons to conduct the survey is to determine how keen students from SIT@Diver are willing to try cultured.

5.1.2. Direct observation

Based on my team’s observation, we noticed that there is no eateries or restaurants selling food with cultured meat.

5.1.3. Interview

We interviewed the stall owner of the western stall on 6 November 2019, at 3.30pm.  The stall owner had expressed his interest in selling cultured at his stall, provided that there is grant and approval from HSA.

6.2 Secondary Research

Our team has analysed several credible websites, mainly newspaper articles, and journal articles such as CNA and The Straits Times. Each person from the team have made one annotated summary as part of the project research.

Conclusion

The team has backed research on the importance of introducing cultured meat as an alternative food source to consumers in Singapore.

References
Ackers, K., Gruchy, H. de, Thomas, H., Worsley, S., & Nolet, S. (2019, September 12). What Does Food Sustainability Really Mean? Retrieved from https://www.ecoandbeyond.co/articles/food-sustainability/

Begum, S. (2019, March 27). Future food: Growing meat in lab to help meet supply needs. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/future-food-growing-meat-in-lab-to-help-meet-supply-needs

Begum, S. (2019, March 28). Food of the future: Beefing up efforts to grow meat in labs. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/beefing-up-efforts-to-grow-meat-in-labs

Bhat, Z. F., Kumar, S., & Fayaz, H. (2015, February 14). In vitro meat production: Challenges and benefits over conventional meat production. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209531191460887X

Co, C. (2019, March 30). Siew mai goes high tech: Singapore's first cell-based shrimp dumplings launched. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/siew-mai-goes-high-tech-singapore-s-first-cell-based-shrimp-11393320

Ewing-Chow, D. (2019, June 20). Is Cultured Meat The Answer To The World's Meat Problem? Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/daphneewingchow/2019/06/20/is-cultured-meat-the-answer-to-the-worlds-meat-problem/#712e37ea4468.

Hultin, G. (2017, July 28). Lab-Grown Meat: Exploring Potential Benefits and Challenges of Cellular Agriculture. Retrieved from https://foodandnutrition.org/march-april-2017/lab-grown-meat-exploring-potential-benefits-challenges-cellular-agriculture/

Low, A. & Yew, J.J. (2019, August). Meet Shiok Meats – The World’s First Start-Up To Grow Shrimp From Stem Cells. Retrieved from http://www.hnworth.com/article/become/trendsetters/meet-shiok-meats-the-worlds-first-start-up-to-grow-shrimp-from-stem-cells/