Posts of “lab meat” chicken, and “3-D printed chicken” have been circling social media over the last few months. And while the images might seem unsettling at first blush, the reason behind the phenomenon, known as “spaghetti meat,” is far less disturbing.
One user posted, “I think it’s fake meat, but I’m not sure.” Still more sympathized, saying, “This is why I’m scared to eat meat now.” Rest assured, you’re far more likely to get sick from washing your poultry than from chicken that looks like this. Currently, UPSIDE Foods and Eat Just are the only companies approved to sell their lab-grown products by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and those companies have nothing to do with spaghetti meat (sometime referred to as SM).
Spaghetti meat is a recent muscular abnormality that affects the Pectoralis major muscle of fast-growing broilers. When a chicken is affected, the breast muscle appears soft, mushy, and sparsely tight, causing it to appear as spaghetti pasta might. Even if it can look somewhat gross, spaghetti meat does not create any health or food safety issues.
Over a decade ago, a new set of muscular abnormalities affecting the P. major began raising concerns within the poultry industry. Since then, a substantial amount of research has been dedicated to understanding the causes and impact on meat quality, as well as efforts to reduce their occurrence and address associated animal welfare issues.
Thankfully, spaghetti meat is occurring in only 5 percent to 7 percent (incidence rates vary) of poultry produced — and most severe forms are usually sorted out or downgraded during processing. The incidence rates are higher in females as opposed to males.
According to Dr. Christine Alvarado and Dr. Casey Owens, professors of poultry science for Texas A&M and the University of Arkansas respectively, spaghetti meat can be observed in a small percentage of broiler chickens, but the relationship to fast growth is still unclear.
“For example, spaghetti meat can be observed in smaller birds within the flock, which would indicate that it does not always affect the fastest-growing birds,” Alvarado wrote.
These muscular issues are commonly referred to in the industry as white striping (WS), wooden breasts (WB), and spaghetti meat. Each term describes distinct characteristics from which they are named. WS is identified by white lines that run parallel to the muscle fibers on the surface of the P. major muscle. WB is marked by a severe hardening of the pectoral muscle, while SM is characterized by a loss of integrity in the muscle fiber bundles of the breast muscle, resulting in a mushy and loosely structured appearance.
Due to their significant impact on meat quality and high incidence rates, numerous studies have been conducted on WS and WB, focusing on understanding their causes, the potential molecular pathways responsible for their occurrence, and their effects on meat’s eating, nutritional, and technological properties. However, information on SM is still limited.
Scientists hypothesize that scalding temperatures and aggressive de-feathering could likely worsen muscular structures that are already compromised and then be further torn apart during handling and fileting.
Ongoing research aims to better understand its causes and relationship to fast growth, with experts suggesting possible links to scalding temperatures and aggressive de-feathering. As the poultry industry continues to address these muscular abnormalities, further studies will be crucial to develop effective mitigation strategies and enhance meat quality.