R3 771 108.50 ‘test tube’ beefburger in the works

The world’s most expensive beefburger is about to be served up in London next week – and it’s not even made with real meat.

The R3 771 108.50 (£250 000) ‘test tube’  burger has been grown in the lab using the stem cells of a slaughtered cow, according to www.metro.co.uk.

It will be made up of 3 000 strips of artificial beef, each the size of a grain of rice.

Professor Mark Post, a medical physiologist at Maastricht University in Holland, has spent two years developing the ‘in vitro’ burger which he believes could help save the environment and prevent a food crisis.

It has been suggested that stem cells taken from one animal could be used to make a million times more meat than is possible from a single cow.

Speaking about the project last year, Professor Post said: ‘Eventually, my vision is that you have a limited herd of donor animals which you keep in stock in the world. You basically kill animals and take all the stem cells from them, so you would still need animals for this technology’.

The £250 000 needed to develop the burger was donated by an anonymous donor – who may reveal himself at next week’s taste-testing for a select few.

The Food Standards Agency said that before going on sale, artificial meat would need regulatory approval.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that cultured meat would be ethically acceptable if it meant less slaughtering.