Frankenburger — Hamburger From a Laboratory

When you think of all the things scientist do in a lab, I'll bet you didn't think that they spent time trying to make a hamburger, but that's exactly what they've done at a Dutch laboratory at University of Maastricht.

Not only have they constructed a burger in the lab, they cooked it and ate it. How did it taste?

The taste test for the 'Frankenburger' took place in London. I guess the Dutch didn't want to put any of their folks in danger.

One braver taster said it had the consistency of meat, but the taste was very much like an 'animal protein cake.'

According to the three people who ate it, the burger, which contained no fat or salt, was dry and a bit lacking in flavor. One taster, Josh Schonwald, a Chicago-based author, said “the bite feels like a conventional hamburger” but that the meat tasted “like an animal-protein cake.”

The developers of the faux burger claim that, at this point, they are not that concerned with the taste as much as they are the possibility of their invention supplying meat to under developed countries. They also hinted that they wanted a more 'humane' way for folks to enjoy the popular food without harming cows. I'll bet more than one of them was wearing a leather belt, leather shoes and stuffed their money in a cowhide wallet, but that's just me being cynical.

For now, it's back to the drawing board. While the idea may be a viable alternative, the cost of the environmentally friendly 'beef' is about $30 a pound.

I already did the math -- the meat alone on a Quarter Pounder would be $7.50. Yeah, guys, you might want to work on that. If starving third world countries can't afford the real thing, this may not be the answer.

Anybody else hungry for a REAL burger?