In the futuristic 1962 cartoon series ‘The Jetsons’, George Jetson would say, “I want a steak dinner” and a device called the Food-A-Rac-A-Cycle would pop out his meal.
Welcome to the future?

Scientists unveiled the world’s first lab-grown beef burger, serving it up to volunteers in London who were told they were going through a frat initiation.

The 5-ounce patty, which cost more than $330,000 to produce, was made of strands of meat grown from muscle cells taken from a living cow. The cow, whose identity was unknown, was heard to mutter, “Thank God, I thought they were going to kill me.”

The prototype burger’s high cost could be its undoing. Scientists said, “We hope to bring the price down to the low $100,000’s and eventually put it on the hundred dollar menu. Of course we’ll have to serve it with extra fries and a huge drink.”

Colored red with beetroot juice and mixed with salt, egg powder and breadcrumbs to improve the taste, researchers claim that after the initial urge to vomit, it will taste similar to a normal burger.

“The original taste was likened to that of any number of British meals I’m afraid”, said Sir Alfred Hyde-Park, lead chef at Buckingham palace.

Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, whose lab developed the meat, said through an interpreter, “It’s a long way from ‘Soylent Green’ and we hope it will be on dinner tables soon, along with phony vegetables and artificial coffee.”

He says the burger is safe and has the potential to replace normal meat in the diets of millions of people. ‘Normal meat’ has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration as having “Not enough trans-fat and sodium to kill you and not enough nutrition to sustain you.” It’s a fine balance.

Although it is very expensive, the costs of cultured beef are likely to fall as more is produced and sources say it could be available in supermarkets within 10 to 20 years in the ‘What the hell is that?’ section.