After Impossible Foods engineered the heme in their vegan burgers to taste and resemble blood content in real meat, you probably thought that plant-based food technologies couldn't get any more advanced. Well, a new company has set its sights on 3D-printing vegan steak to look, taste and chew like animal protein. What could this mean for the meat industry? Huge competition, thanks to the speedy production times required to make this faux meat.

Introducing the World's First 3D-Printed Vegan Steak, made by Redefine Meat, an Israeli company based in Rehovot. They call this new product an 'Alt-Steak', or an alternative to steak, and possibly an alternative to the way food is produced.

3D printing technology can replicate the taste, texture, consistency, and appearance of actual meat from animals. This new Alt-Steak is 100% vegan and made with soy, pea protein, coconut fat, sunflower oil, and natural colors and flavors to resemble meat. 'Alt-Steak' contains plant proteins, natural ingredients, is high in protein, and contains no cholesterol–a healthier alternative to real meat. The purpose of using technology to print meat is so the muscles and structure of beef can be precisely and perfectly replicated.

You could eat an 'Alt-Steak' in restaurants near you

Although there is not much information available about the 3D process yet, we do know is that Redefine Meat is planning to incorporate 70 different sensory factors, which include the amount of fat, the cut of the 'beef', and the juiciness or bloodiness of the meat into their production. The company expects to start testing the product in high-end restaurants in Isreal as early as next month. Globally, they're planning on selling the meat to European restaurants next year and want their product to be available in supermarkets in 2022.


How does a 3D Printer produce meat?

From the images provided by Metro, we can see the ingredients of faux meat such as plant-based protein and natural fats are inserted into the printer, and then pushed out through tubes and layered on top of one another to create a marbled 'meaty' texture. The three tubes are labeled: fat, blood, muscle.

CEO and co-founder Eshchar Ben-Shitrit expects a big shift for not only the meat industry but the food industry as a whole due to Redefine Meat's technology. Ben-Shitrit explains, "To make a meatless steak that resembles the muscle of an animal requires the use of a special 3D printer. Until now, nobody had this kind of printer and we developed it in the past two years." In addition, he told The Media Line: "This is the world’s first 3D-printed steak that can really pass the test of what is a steak. We’ve reached a milestone because we can print steaks on a large scale and the taste and texture are amazing."

Let us know in the comments below if you are excited about the new 3D printing invention.