Lambert & Ewers Smoked Meats

The economic slump took a toll on food manufacturers’ new product launches in 2009, including launches of products with “all-natural” or organic claims, according to market research firm Mintel.

Mintel reported that a review of its Global New Product Database (GNPD) showed food and drink product launches last year declined by nearly 30 percent from 2008.

Most categories saw decreases due to the down economy, said Lynn Dornblaser, leading new product expert at Mintel, in a news release. “Natural and organic products, which saw large increases in 2008, took a few steps back in 2009 due to their higher price points,” she noted.

Food and drink introductions with an all-natural claim decreased to 13 percent of all launches in 2009 from 15 percent in 2008. The organic claim showed a similar decline, to 10 percent of all launches from 12 percent in 2008.

Four years ago, a paper from the Tissue Engineering journal outlined techniques that would allow large-scale meat production in a lab. Today we can view the fruits of their research, as scientists now confirm that they have managed to grow a form of meat in a laboratory for the first time.

Researchers from The Netherlands extracted myoblast cells from the muscle of a live pig; cells that in the right environment would grow into muscle in order to repair damage to tissue, and incubated them in a nutrient-based solution derived from the blood of animal foetuses. The result was what has been described as “a soggy form of pork” which, due to laboratory rules hasn’t been sampled for taste yet. Sufficient “exercising” of said product could however yield a tougher, steak-like consistency.

Professor of physiology at Eindhoven University Mark Post, lead scientist of the government-funded research, said “You could take the meat from one animal and create the volume of meat previously provided by a million animals. We need to find ways of improving it by training it and stretching it, but we will get there. This product will be good for the environment and will reduce animal suffering. If it feels and tastes like meat, people will buy it.”

Aside from the obvious benefits of more effective global meat and dairy production, consumption of which is set to double by 2050, the moral benefits have been acknowledged by vegetarians who agree that they have no ethical objection to the procedure, though some still query its potential. A Vegetarian Society spokesperson argues “The big question is how could you guarantee you were eating artificial flesh rather than flesh from an animal that had been slaughtered. It would be very difficult to label and identify in a way that people would trust.”

In addition, the ability to produce meat in a laboratory would yield environmental benefits. With 18% of the world’s greenhouse gases produced by livestock, any reduction would have a significant impact on our collective carbon footprint.

The average number of different food items in a normal-sized grocery store is over 16,000. You have a fresh meat case, a fresh vegetable case and a fresh fruit section. The ingredients are just the products themselves.

Then you begin to walk down the various isles and look at the mind-boggling number of processed products. Do you think stores would have entire aisles of snack foods if they weren’t selling them? Read the ingredient lists. I read the lists of 25 products — canned foods, soda pops, fruit drinks [not fresh squeezed], ice creams, frozen dinners, frozen snacks, aisles of candies and chocolates — and they had a minimum of 30 ingredients.
                   

Based on what science, what facts, what peer review says the explosion of diabetes and heart diseases are the result of meat consumption? Do you think people who graze like vacuum cleaners in fast-food restaurants get fat from eating meat? What about the breads, the sauces, the cheeses, the excessive portions, the extra sugar in huge cups of soft drinks and the deserts? Who are you people trying to confuse?
                   

People in fast food sell products people are going to eat and eat repeatedly. Sugar, fat and portion size bring them back. In food consumption, like most things in life, the secret is balance, sometimes even moderation.
                   

What scientific experiments have been done which shows the effect of a diet that mixes meat, vegetables, fruits and some carbohydrates? Not many. Also, humans are very individualistic in their lifestyles and physical makeup. A diet for one may not work for another.
                   

We are at the mercy of a dictatorship of minority thinkers who exist to tear something down. At the same time we have to be very conscious of opposing or challenging views. Most important is to find out facts and verifiable science. The worst thing anybody can do is to just talk to or read things written by people who agree with us. If you do that you will remain biased and ignorant. It’s hard to listen to contradictory views, but you have to.
                   

With food, remember the secret to a happy, nutritious life is balance.