Table 3. Various aspects of conventional meat and in-vitro meat

Broad aspect Conventional meat In-vitro meat
Animal welfare Obtained by slaughter of animal Slaughter-free method of production by cell agriculture
Animal undergoes pain or stress during rearing, transport and in lairage A small amount of tissue biopsies or explants needed for obtaining stem cells
With proper stunning, pain may be reduced to a great extent Harvesting fetal embryonic stem cells considered painless method
Need large number of animals to fulfil meat demand Require few animals for supplying stem cells for meat production
Availability of meat from wild/ exotic/ rare species is not ethically and legally allowed Make possible of production of meat of wild/ rare or exotic animals as rhino sausage, tiger nuggets
Food security and safety Production process warrants strict quality checks Whole process is carried out under strict hygiene and sanitary conditions
Higher manual contact and large variations in animal production practices affect the quality A novel process and does not depends upon animal handling and managemental practices except for harvesting stem cells
The feed and other inputs change quality of meat to a small extent Nutritional quality of cultured meat largely affected by incorporation of various ingredients in growth media
Compositional modifications are difficult Compositional modifications are very easy
Higher risk of antibiotic residues and microbial contamination, depending upon the managemental and feeding practices Very low risk of antibiotic residues or microbial contaminations
Sustainability Higher water and carbon foot-print Low water and carbon foot-print
Causes environmental pollution and unable to sustain high production of meat in future Environmental friendly, sustainable, green technology
Resource intensive, need high amount of water, land and energy inputs Resource extensive, theoretically one cell line can feed whole world
Large land requirement for animal farming and agriculture for production of fodder and grains Less land requirement and may use horizontal space
Waste disposal of agriculture farming, animal rearing, slaughtering and meat processing poses a huge challenge Waste disposal is far less as compared to conventional meat production, media waste treatment and disposal at an industrial scale may require attention
Cause higher emission of GHGs leading to ozone depletion and global warming No significant emission of GHGs by application of innovative technologies
Process characteristics Production of meat takes more time due to rearing animals to slaughter age Fast process and production at artificial environment
Energy is diverted towards principal product meat along with a range of by-products Full energy is diverted towards production of principal product
Animal reared mostly at rural areas and transported to slaughter house/ processing facilities The whole production process most likely to be set up mostly at urban areas
Not suitable for long-term space explorations and settlement Suitable for long-term space explorations and settlement
The production site is mostly away from consumption areas The in-vitro production site can be placed near to demand areas
Lowering production will preserve biodiversity Higher production will decrease conventional meat production and preserve biodiversity
Stress prior to slaughter leads to deterioration of meat quality such as PSE, DFD These pre-slaughter stress factor do not apply in in-vitro meat
Religious aspects Slaughtering of animals should be done with proper following of religious rules Cell harvesting as per religious laws and culture media should have religiously acceptable ingredients
Have animal welfare and ethical issues for vegan and vegetarians Accepted by vegetarians and vegans who avoid meat eating due to animal welfare and ethical concerns, culture media are free from animal origin ingredients
GHG, greenhouse gas; PSE, pale soft exudative; DFD, dark firm and dry.