Africa’s first taste of the long-anticipated cultivated beef burger

The Citizen recently reported about a cultivated beef burger soon to be launched.

This week, a local cultivated meat company, Mzansi Meat Co. unveiled Africa’s first cultivated beef burger, which was prepared at a bespoke event in Cape Town.

Co-founders Brett Thompson and Tasneem Karodia, as well as head of taste, Absie Pantshwa, had a bite of the ground-breaking burger, boasting a patty made with cultivated beef at the event, alongside Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member of Economic Growth at the City of Cape Town.

Thompson said: “Cellular agriculture wasn’t an industry in Africa until Mzansi was born. Our burger is only the beginning.”

Mzansi Meat Co. now knows that it’s possible to cultivate meat and the natural next step for Mzansi Meat Co. is to scale it up.

They want to make the same meat we know and love, but just in a better way to keep up with demand going forward.

Africa’s population is growing and by 2050 the continent can expect another billion mouths to feed.

The current agricultural landscape needs innovation to make it better.

Tackling food security with an improved food system benefits the environment by reducing land use and water.

Cultivated meat doesn’t require the killing of millions of animals, which means less intensive livestock conditions.

How is cultivated meat made?

Getting to where they are today when it comes to cultivated meat, is a rather intricate process to say the least.

The journey begins at a local farm animal sanctuary where veterinarians remove tiny tissue cells from donor animals, who roam free with as little harm as possible.

Once the cells are harvested, a sample is placed in a nutrient-rich transport medium and taken to Mzansi Meat Co.’s lab where they isolate the cells and grow them in a culture medium.

This is a special type of food containing vitamins, salts and proteins that the cells need to develop and divide.

Once they have enough cells, they place them on an edible structure and after adding a few additional spices and flavours, the cultivated meat is ready to be dished up and enjoyed.