Is it possible for substitute proteins to address antibiotic resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a persistent issue on a global scale. However, the food sector may want to move quickly to find a solution given the recent finding of superbugs and antibiotic residues in UK rivers close to cattle farms.
These worries aren’t unique to North America, though, as New Food recently revealed on an investigation conducted in the US that connected McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast food chain, to cattle that was reared with antibiotics. The National Library of Medicine has referred to the fear around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a “global multifaceted phenomenon” that affects people everywhere.
However, the Good Food Institute Europe states that switching to sustainable proteins like farmed and plant-based meat is one way to solve problems when they arise.
Antimicrobial resistance: what is it?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) arises from the gradual alteration of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites such that they become resistant to treatment. In the end, this makes infections more difficult to cure and raises the possibility of disease transmission, serious sickness, and even death.
Even though AMR arises naturally when all microbes adapt to their surroundings, it poses a problem for farming because, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the industry “exacerbates” the problem by using “inappropriate and excessive amounts of antimicrobials.”
The anticipated overall number of severe antibiotic-resistant infections in England is rising, according to data from the UK Health Security Agency. It specifically states that, in comparison to 2020, there was a 2.2% increase in illnesses with serious antibiotic resistance in In this translates to serious illnesses resistant to antibiotics every day.
AMR raises obvious concerns, especially as it can be lethal. Bacterial AMR was shown to be responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019 alone, according to the study.
Martina Helmlinger, the Science and Technology Community Coordinator at the Good Food Institute Europe, countered that there is a way to combat this without completely cutting out protein from diets in an interview with New Food. As long as the protein you eat is an alternative kind, you can actually eat as much of it as you like.
What other proteins are there?
Alternative proteins are substitutes for animal protein that come from plants or food technology, such farmed meat.
Alternative proteins come in a variety of forms (some more readily available to consumers than others), but Helmlinger clarified that they “may help to reduce the risk of deadly AMR” and that they are all devoid of antibiotics.
meat from a crop
“Cultivated meat is the same meat we eat today, but it involves taking a harmless sample of animal cells from an animal rather than farming animals,” claims Helmlinger.
The extracted cells are then grown in a cultivator, which Helmlinger compares to beer fermenters, to make meat in a sustainable manner by providing “the warmth and nutrients needed.” This is the next step in the process of generating cultivated meat.
Meat from cultivation to the rescue?
Helmlinger paints a positive view of farmed meat and other sustainable proteins (such plant-based meat), saying that they “can deliver the meat people want without reducing the effectiveness of these lifesaving medicines”.
Put that way, it sounds easy, but switching all farmed meat to cultured meat with a single click isn’t a simple short-term answer to AMR.
The Guardian pointed out that up until recently, Singapore was the only nation where people could lawfully purchase goods developed in laboratories. But on November 16, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved UPSIDE Foods’ lab-grown chicken, a development that the company’s CEO and founder, Dr. Uma Valeti, called a “watershed moment in the history of food.”
When the US FDA approves its first choice for cultured meat in 2022, the rest of the globe might be waiting anxiously to see how the public reacts.But since plant-based options are already extensively accessible everywhere in the world, consumers are changing their shopping baskets to include more sustainable and health-conscious options for protein.
Will consumers accept the demand?
Helmlinger implied that the popularity of farmed meat is dwindling and cited a recent study conducted on behalf of the Good Food Institute Europe, which revealed that over 50% of consumers in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy have cut back on their meat consumption, with a significant proportion choosing plant-based meat in its place.
Popularity of plants
According to Helmlinger, the demand from consumers for plant-based meat is “surging,” with retail sales in western Europe expected to reach just under £2 billion in 2021 after expanding.
Helmlinger acknowledges that although “plant-based options still make up a tiny fraction of the overall meat market,” they “don’t yet match conventional meat on taste, price, or convenience,” all of which she believes are the main determinants of many people’s dietary choices.
Helmlinger told New Food that the governments of the UK and Europe “must invest in research to make plant-based meat as delicious and affordable as conventional meat” in an effort to change this.In addition to providing the infrastructure, training the workforce, and optimizing processing techniques that will be essential to enabling the sector to scale up and drive down prices, this investment needs to be concentrated on discovering new ingredients and using technology to create the flavors and textures of meat using plants.
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But although customers might already be familiar with plant-based substitutes, farmed meat is more harder to get by.
Though it is already FDA permitted in the US and available in Singapore, Helmlinger predicted that “it is likely to be some years before Brits are able to buy cultivated meat.” The amount that the government invests will determine when that occurs.In her opinion, the UK Government should provide funding for open-access research aimed at increasing production, similar to the way they have invested in the development of renewable energy. This will enable the price of farmed and cultured meat to be equal when the latter is sold on public shelves.The Netherlands, Singapore, and Israel have taken the lead in actively promoting the growth of farmed meat.
Looking ahead
Seren Kell, Science and Technology Manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, is a proponent of the potential solutions that plant-based and cultured meat could lead to in light of the current worries around AMR.
Since plant-based and farmed meat don’t include antibiotics, they can provide consumers with the meat they want while preserving these vital medications.Kell has advised decision-makers that “to protect public health, the UK and other governments must invest in developing sustainable proteins as well as supporting better farming practices.”
Helmlinger also found that at the beginning of the next ten years, plant-based and farmed meat might account for a sizable share of the world meat industry, provided governments invested at the appropriate levels.
In line with her position, a Blue Horizon and BCG analysis estimated that by 2035, sustainable proteins may account for up to 22% of the global meat industry in the best-case scenario.
In the end, AMR is a global issue that Helmlinger stated is “unlikely to become a thing of the past,” but a much-needed reversal of this trend might happen by teaching farmers about its possibly lethal repercussions and increasing consumer awareness.Making no adjustments would be “catastrophic,” according to Helmlinger, whether it be through the adoption of sustainable protein substitutes or the implementation of stronger agriculture antimicrobial testing regulations by governments.Even if antimicrobial resistance is “unlikely to become a thing of the past,” action must be taken quickly to buck the trend.