Steak and burger from the lab

Maastricht The “cow barn of the future” is located in a laboratory in the Maastricht industrial area. Instead of livestock, there are heating tanks with a constant temperature of 37 degrees. Inside are small clear plastic containers with clusters of cells in a cloudy nutrient solution. It is constantly stirred carefully. “Beef muscle cells are very sensitive and picky about food and the environment,” explains Peter Verstrate, co-founder and COO of Mosa Meat. Food Technology is one of the leading laboratories in the field of meat.

Instead of farmers in rubber boots, this requires scientists in white coats. In the lab next door, they multiply fat cells that look like fluffy white worms in Petri dishes. Within two to three months, the beef cells – muscle and fat – grow into a real burger – biologically identical to beef.