Staff at the University of California, Davis, are set to lead a new facility to study the commercialization and development of alternative proteins.
The new Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein, or iCAMP, launches Jan. 17. The center will focus on cultured meat, plant- and fungal-based foods, and hybrids of the technologies.
“Expansion of conventional animal agriculture is unlikely to be able to meet demand at a reasonable price,” David Block, the center’s director and a professor in the UC Davis chemical engineering and viticulture and enology departments, said in a statement. “We have to come up with alternatives and create additional sustainable food sources.”
According to a release, iCAMP will “ research ways to enhance consumer acceptance of and preference for alternative proteins, whether cultivated meat, plant- or fungal-based proteins. This deeper understanding will allow researchers and companies to develop products that are highly desirable to consumers of different backgrounds and interests, whether they are focused on taste, nutrition, shelf life and stability, cooking properties, cost or other factors.”
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Protein alternatives have struggled to gain a long-term foothold in the marketplace despite a flurry of regulatory and investment activity. The Department of Agriculture has approved the production of cultivated chicken products under a joint regulatory framework with the Food and Drug Administration. Block said more prevalent positioning on menus and in grocery carts will take time.
“We are not to the point where the product is anywhere near the cost of conventional meat,” Block said. “Widespread distribution of affordable products is likely to take 10 to 15 years.”
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