Chef Andrew Gruel Questions Lab Grown Meat, Sparks Twitter Discussion

Yesterday in Reuters – A MUST READ THREAD:

For years we were told trans fats saved lives. After WW2 there was a shortage of butter and along came this wonder food product. Proctor & Gamble bought the patent rights and “margarine” became a household name. 1/7 pic.twitter.com/5Oo5hsvwmc

— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) January 24, 2023

Each day we take another step closer to seeing lab grown foods on grocery store shelves. Meat in particular has been a contentious topic of discussion. Some are optimistic about the potential benefits of lab grown food: It will remove reliance on livestock farming, which will help reduce greenhouse emissions, and ensure overall quality. Others aren’t as keen about eating a burger grown in a petri dish. 

Chef and restaurateur, Andrew Gruel, recently shared his thoughts on Twitter, and let’s just say they were less than enthusiastic. Referencing an article from Reuters with the headline “Lab-grown meat moves closer to American dinner plates,”  he likened the news to margarine, which was introduced during World War II following a butter shortage. 

Margarine, while mostly composed of unsaturated fats, is also notoriously known to contain trans fats, which can increase the risk of heart disease. Although to be fair, nowadays it’s illegal to sell margarine with trans fats in the U.S. Comparing “imitation butter” to lab grown meat, Gruel continued in a thread, “Doctors who questioned the health of this product were blacklisted (see Fred Kummerow) — no one was allowed to push back.” 

As the famous quote goes, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That seems to be the point Gruel is hoping to get across. Do we know enough about how it’s long term effects to fully trust it? Amazing innovation aside, he poses valid questions. With reports coming out about the potential health risks of processed plant-based meats, apprehension towards lab grown meat is perfectly understandable.

Gruel ends his thread by emphasizing the importance of staying active and consuming actual food, rather than succumbing to dubious claims from the government, or pharmaceutical companies, about new “wonder products.”

“Every time big government, big ag, and big pharma create a new wonder product WE ALL LOSE. This lab-grown meat is a DANGER – a ticking time bomb. Eat real food, real seafood that is high in Omega 6 fatty acids, real butter, real fat and you will crush it.”

If history is to be believed, there’s countless reasons to be weary of this new alternative protein. On the other hand, should we let fear prevent us from being open-minded? Just because it could be a ploy by the powers that be doesn’t necessarily mean it is.