Reviews Of The World's First Test-Tube Burger

Last week, the world's first test-tube burger was served at an undisclosed location to undisclosed diners for a secret taste test that made it onto newspapers all over the world. And although creating the burger cost upwards of $331,200 (expensive meat-growing science, y'all), the reviews are a bit... disappointing.

"It's somewhere between a Boca Burger and a McDonald's burger," Josh Schonwald, the author of The Taste of Tomorrow said. Food scientist Hanni Rützler, the second taster, said it was like a "meatloaf without any salt and pepper." Both reviewers noted a "cake-like quality," which does not sound appetizing at all.

The burger patty, which was developed by Dutch scientist Mark Post at the University of Maastricht, was grown using stem cells from cow shoulder muscle. The cells were then multiplied in a nutrient solution to eventually become muscle cells, creating a fatless meat product to create lean beef patties. 

Price aside, Post hopes that this development could help stall a food shortage crisis, cutting down global meat consumption with synthesized meat. Still, it'll be a while before lab-grown meat shows up on your supermarket shelves. "Cultured beef production has a long way to go and will not be on the market for some time as the technique still needs to be refined and altered to allow for mass production," Post told FoodNavigator. Lucky for those who prefer a little more fat in their burger patties, and don't want to feel the guilt of eating real meat.