Lab grown "meat" does not go through the life of an actual animal, and won't contain what a well raised animal will contain. Actual animals will consume food... for example, ruminant animals eat grass... this grass along with digestion process will bring nutrition that just feeding cells won't contain...

Fat soluble vitamins as an example example. In the case of just fat soluble vitamins, a lot of the supplements are either a baseline nutrient the body can convert to the actual nutrient or another form of the nutrient likewise. However these supplements are often not as bioavailable or have malabsorption and don't actually cover nutritional needs. A lot of the systemic hormonal issues in society can be traced to a reduction in the consumption of animal fats and fats in general, which are essential to body function.

That also doesn't cover the variety of fatty and amino acids in naturally grown muscle and fatty tissue in animals. You actually need a wide variety of these. And even then, the dietary guidelines are absolute minimums and not optimal values. They also don't contain guidance or understanding for all nutrients. It wasn't until just the past couple decades that a few essential nutrients were added for hospitalized feeding which accounted for serious brain/mental issues.

We (humans) have a very poor understanding of actual nutrient requirements, even for those in very small amounts that can have huge impacts on overall health.

edit: it can still be considered meat, or even animal meat... but if you look at the nutrition profile of farm raised vs wild caught salmon. Or grass fed grass finished beef vs grain fed. Or naturally fed chickens and their eggs vs commercial feed lots. There are vast differences in quality that can add up.

> this grass along with digestion process will bring nutrition that just feeding cells won't contain...

What makes you think that? If the cells are not fed the nutrients they need to survive, they will die. You can only reduce the inputs so much until the entire system breaks down.

That doesn't bar anyone from providing rich feeding mixes to produce cells with extra nutritional value.

They could also combine GMO cells with ultra-precise nutrient formulations to minimize costs, and be able to provide better nutrition than naturally-raised meat.

That assumes they know what needs to be there are aren't using substitute nutrients.

There's a lot of things in animal meat that won't be in lab meat. And given what they charge for oat milk and impossible burgers,.I doubt it will be more cost effective for the public.

> There's a lot of things in animal meat that won't be in lab meat.

Can you give one example? I'm starting to doubt the honesty of your argument.

Comparable amounts of Vitamins A, D, E, K and Choline for starters.

Are there reasons the meat cannot be fortified with them?

I found one source talking about nutrient problems, which talks about B12 and iron, and suggests adding them to the nutrient mix. https://www.burdockgroup.com/the-nutritional-challenges-of-c...

could but the versions of those nutrients in supplements are usually not the same versions, but precursors that don't have the same bioavailability. There's also the fact that there are other micronutrients that we don't know if they are or aren't actually necessary for optimal health. Again, see choline[1], "in 2007 most commercial formulas were “humanized” in terms of choline content" ... That's 2007, which is really recent. That is just a single example. What else will be missing from lab meat?

Again, not opposed to lab grown meat... I still feel that it may be appropriate to still consume some animal based nutrition. Even if that is limited to mostly dairy, eggs and/or fish. As I stated earlier, half to two thirds of what people consume is mostly energy alone. Hormonal responses will vary based on the content, but strictly speaking, not so bad one way or another, provided an appropriate balance of amino and fatty acids, which even there, I doubt will be optimal.

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4422379/

I was under the impression that you pointed out a technical impossibility of putting the right nutrients in the cultured meat. Instead it seems like cultured meat will [at first] not have the ingredients [due to lack of knowledge], [similarly to other existing products]. Thanks for explaining.