Dem
47
GOP
53
And now an item that's pretty wild. There is a Finnish startup called Solar Foods that has developed a new protein powder made (primarily) from air. They start with a single microbe, and hit it with lots of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and (renewable) energy. This eventually produces a slurry that is dried out and turned into a highly nutritious protein powder.
How nutritious? Well, it has all nine essential amino acids, along with unsaturated fats, dietary fiber, and vitamin B12. Food & Wine tested it in a lab, and found that it has 75g of protein for every 100g of powder, which is the same basic ratio as with the protein powders currently on the market (which are usually made from whey, egg whites, or soy). And it's very eco-friendly; in addition to being produced with renewable energy, it takes 600 times less water and 200 times less land to produce one pound of Solein protein as compared to one pound of beef protein.
Of course, this is considerably less useful if it tastes like bull cookies. The bar here is not THAT hard to clear, since existing protein powders taste pretty poor and chalky, and are usually hidden within other ingredients. The Solein, apparently, has a slight umami flavor, and that is it. Various folks have put it to the test in various applications, and they say it tastes just fine.
Food scientists, at least the ones not trying to figure out how to get you to drink more Coke, or exactly how much red dye #5 they can get away with, are doing some pretty remarkable work these days, and this is one example. If this catches on, it could not only offer health-conscious people a more eco-friendly (and better-tasting?) option for after their workouts, but it could also help to combat global hunger, and maybe could inspire innovation in the production of other foodstuffs. Indeed, this process is obviously slower, but besides the time lapse, is there all that much difference between what Solein is doing and what the replicators on Star Trek ships do?
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)