Aleph Farms produces first cell-grown steak

An Israel-based start-up called Aleph Farms has produced the first cell-grown minute steak, which has the appearance, shape and texture of regular beef cuts.

Aleph Farms co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia said: “We’re shaping the future of the meat industry, literally. Making a patty or a sausage from cells cultured outside the animal is challenging enough, imagine how difficult it is to create a whole-muscle steak. At Aleph Farms, this is not science fiction.

“We’ve transformed the vision into reality by growing a steak under controlled conditions. The initial products are still relatively thin, but the technology we developed marks a true breakthrough and a great leap forward in producing a cell-grown steak.”

The Israeli-based start-up explained that it makes use of a few cells from a living animal, which are extracted painlessly, and then these cells are nourished and grown to produce a complex matrix that replicates muscle tissue.

Aleph Farms said that it is implementing a combination of six technologies, which reduces the production costs of the meat. This includes new methods associated with animal-free growth mediums to nourish the cells, as well as bioreactors, which are the tanks where the tissue is grown.

The slaughter-free steak is produced without the need for vast tracts of land, water, feed, antibiotics and other resources to raise cattle for meat.

Paris Texas restaurant chef Amir Ilan said: “Aleph Farms’ minute steak is thinly sliced and will cook in just a minute or so.

“For me, it is a great experience to eat meat that has the look and feel of beef but has been grown without antibiotics and causes no harm to animals or the environment.

“Aleph Farms meat has high culinary potential, it can be readily incorporated into top-shelf preparations or served in premium-casual restaurants, trendy cafes, bistros or other eateries.”

Backed by the US and European venture capital firms, Aleph Farms was co-founded last year by The Technion and Israeli food-tech incubator The Kitchen, a part of the Strauss Group.