Air Protein just created 'meat' made from air
Air Protein just created 'meat' made from air
Yep, you read that right. First
there was meat made of plants, now there's meat made of air.
Amanda Capritto November 12, 2019 4:00 AM PST
A Bay-area company has upended the
meatless meat industry with a new, mind-boggling (seriously, I'm perplexed)
category of meatless meat:
air-based meat.
Yes, that's right, Air Protein today announced the launch of
an air-based meat substance that can be used to make burgers, chicken, turkey
or virtually any meat product you want it to be. You can even use this
air-based product to make protein-enriched pastas, cereals and beverages.
The product itself looks much like a protein powder, but consists
only of elements found in the air, specifically carbon dioxide, oxygen and
nitrogen, which are then blended with water and mineral nutrients to create a
base. Using renewable energy and a probiotic production process (fermentation),
Air Protein converts the elements into an edible product (the powder base) with
an amino acid profile similar to that of real meat -- it contains all nine essential amino acids, so it's a complete
protein.
Air Protein is also fortified with vitamins, including vitamin
B12, which is primarily found in animal products and is difficult for many
vegans and vegetarians to get enough of in their diets.
CEO of Air Protein Lisa Dyson started the company after realizing
that single-cell organisms could convert carbon dioxide into
nutrients. The question was, essentially, if they could do it, why
couldn't humans?
Air Protein is a sister company of Kiverdi, a company that focuses on using carbon
dioxide to make environmentally friendly products, such as plastics and soil.
You're going to have to wait a while before you'll see any meat made from air
on store shelves, since the company is still working on turning their tech into
tangible consumer products.
It's too soon to tell how this air-based protein compares to real or faux meat in terms of
long-term health, but maybe it has the potential to
beat both in terms of environmental health.
I'm not sure Air Protein is the product that will convince wary omnivores to go
vegan, but it's certainly a leap for the meatless meat
industry and gives us something to ponder while we wait to see if the FDA
approves cell-based meat for
consumption.
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