theguardian.com
Sea Squirt Mincemeat: A Sustainable Meat Alternative
A Scandinavian company is developing a sustainable meat alternative using sea squirts (ciona), aiming for large-scale production and market competition with the salmon industry.
English
United Kingdom
TechnologyLifestyleEnvironmentSustainabilityInnovationFood
Pronofa AsaMarine TasteFood Standards AgencyNorwegian Seafood Council
Hans Petter Olsen
- What is Pronofa Asa's main goal?
- Pronofa Asa, a Scandinavian company, is developing a sustainable and environmentally friendly meat alternative using ciona, or sea squirts. Their processed ciona mincemeat aims to taste and feel like traditional ground beef, with plans for supermarket launch in Norway and Sweden before the end of the year.
- How sustainable is ciona farming?
- Ciona farming is considered super-sustainable because it requires minimal input from farmers. The ciona are grown on ropes in the ocean, filtering nitrogen and improving water clarity. Harvesting involves collecting the ropes and processing the ciona.
- What are some challenges in sea squirt farming?
- One of the challenges of sea squirt farming is mass mortality events, as seen with the sea pineapple variety in Korea, which are potentially caused by parasites. Pronofa is working to avoid such issues and achieve large-scale production.
- How does Pronofa address the natural taste of ciona?
- While ciona naturally have a slight seafood taste and calamari-like texture, Pronofa's processing removes this, resulting in a product that tastes like traditional meat. The company aims to make it indistinguishable from beef in taste and texture.
- What is Pronofa's long-term vision for ciona mincemeat?
- Pronofa's ambitious goal is to compete with the Norwegian salmon industry in scale, producing millions of tons of ciona mincemeat. This alternative protein source aims to be a sustainable and widely available replacement for traditional ground beef.