Cultured meat: Fewer allergens than traditional sources but triggers sensitive immune systems

A new study has found that cultured meat contains fewer traditional protein allergens but paradoxically could trigger stronger immune reactions in people with existing meat allergies. Researchers address growing consumer curiosity about the health impacts of cultivated meat as the new food product approaches commercialization. 

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry study led by the American Chemical Society focused on cow beef and cultured beef cells. Previous studies looked at fish cells, which contained fewer proteins linked to severe allergies than conventional seafood.

Overall, the researchers found that cultivated beef cells had lower allergy-related hazards but a high risk for stronger reactions to those with alpha-gal sensitivity. This sugar is found in red meat and may cause allergies in those bitten by a Lone Star tick, commonly found across the Eastern, Southeastern, and Midwestern regions of the US.

In the future, the team plans to investigate final cultivated meat products while highlighting the importance of collaboration between science, regulation, and clinical teams to ensure safety and public acceptance of lab-grown meat.

“This study demonstrates that meat grown from cells can change in ways that matter for food allergies,” says corresponding author Renwick Dobson, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 

“Our results show why food safety assessments for cultivated meat need to look carefully at allergy-related proteins, rather than assuming they behave the same as those in conventional meat.”

Some study authors were co-founders, employees, and shareholders in Opo Bio Aotearoa, the biotechnology company that supplied the cell culture.

Different levels of protein 

The researchers explain that cultivated meat is made from animal muscle cells under controlled conditions, which produce different amounts of proteins than traditional meat.

Until now, knowledge of allergen protein levels in meats such as beef has not been available, they add. This includes research on traditional beef protein allergens or sensitivity to alpha-gal.

This led the team to compare the protein composition and allergenic potential of cultured cow cells to beef. 

They grew male cow muscle cells for varying lengths of time and found that the cultured cells had similar protein compositions despite differences in culture time. Allergenic proteins were also similarly low in levels compared to regular beef, except for three proteins.

The WHO has not classified these proteins as meat allergens. However, the researchers note they react with immunoglobulin E (IgE), which could trigger immune responses or allergic reactions in some people. 

Additionally, blood samples from a few individuals with meat allergies in other experiments had less IgE binding to undigested and digested cultured cells compared to those from traditional steak. These were consistent across the different levels of allergen-related proteins.

On the other hand, researchers found that cultured cow cells triggered strong reactivity with human IgE in two blood samples from alpha-gal-sensitive individuals. They explain this might be because there are more alpha-gal-modified proteins in cultivated cells.

“The development of cultivated meats will require coordinated efforts between scientific, regulatory, and clinical teams to deliver products that are not only safe and sustainable but also accepted and trusted by the public,” concludes Dobson. 

“Only through this ongoing collaboration can cultivated meat achieve its promise as a viable, responsible, and widely accepted alternative to conventional meat.”

Meat in headlines

Previously, Nutrition Insight spoke with start-up Optimized Foods about how its mycelium-based technology could shape the future of cultivated meat and nutrition.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and OECD project rising incomes and greater agricultural productivity by the next decade, driving global demand for animal-based foods. These are also expected to widen nutrition gaps and threaten the climate. 

We also explored how animal-source food consumption continues to exceed healthy diet benchmarks, while flagging inefficiencies in the industrial agricultural system through which crops are grown to feed animals that are then eaten by humans.

Meanwhile, a previous study revealed how discarded meat byproducts can be converted into bioactive peptides using enzymatic and green extraction methods.