Intellectual Property Questions Surrounding Cell Cultured Meat

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association recently had representation at the World Meat Congress, a biannual assembly of meat industry leaders hosted by the International Meat Secretariat, a key point of contention discussed at the Congress was cell culture proteins. NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs, Kent Bacus.

“We had the chance to hear from a US-based company from New Jersey that's trying to replace the ground pork market and their approach to things but most importantly, for me, I got engaged with a company called Mosa Meat of the from the Netherlands, and they are doing everything they can to displace traditional livestock production. And it's a really corner the ground beef market that for example, they can take sell from the shoulder or the rub of one of our cows and produce 80,000 patties from those cells."

Bacus points out that cell-cultured protein production involves unsustainable technologies like bioreactors, discussions focused on the cruelty-free aspect of meat production, since they are relying on the intellectual property of our livestock, they need that intelligent design that comes from naturally raised and ordered and they need our livestock to be able to do this. They can't generate that on their own. So my question was, how are they compensating the producers who are providing that technology to this.”

Kent Bacus with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association