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PORTSIDE CULTURE

SEEKING NEW FOODS, SCIENTISTS LOOK TO BACTERIA, ALGAE, AND MORE  
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Sara Talpos
January 29, 2025
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_ At universities and startups around the globe, researchers are
searching for microbes that could be used as food. _

An ice cream that uses Solein as a milk substitute. Solar Foods
recently filed paperwork with U.S. regulators saying that the
ingredients in Solein are generally recognized as safe., Solar Foods

 

AS A TEENAGER growing up in Nigeria, Helen Onyeaka was obsessed with
microorganisms. The tiny lifeforms, which include bacteria and yeast,
can be grown quickly and in huge quantities. Onyeaka wondered if that
abundance could be harnessed to feed people in conflict zones
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children were suffering from malnutrition
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their distended stomachs a clear sign of protein deficiency. “I used
to dream microbes as food,” she recently recalled.

Today, Onyeaka is an industrial microbiologist and a deputy director
of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action, at
the University of Birmingham in the U.K. In her lab, she is testing
her decades-old hypothesis, trying to identify microorganisms that
could one day serve as an alternative protein source while using a
fraction of the land, water, and industrial fertilizer needed to
support traditional crops and livestock.

She’s not the only person studying what are sometimes
called single-cell proteins
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microorganisms
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While human diets have long included relatively small quantities of
microbes — think of the live bacteria in yogurt, or the oven-killed
yeast in bread — researchers at universities and dozens of startups
across the globe are now investigating whether some microbes could
serve as a caloric substitute for a wide range of foods and
ingredients, including eggs, milk, meat, and flour.

Some products have already been cleared for sale in the U.S. And, late
last year a Finnish company called Solar Foods completed
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outlined by the Food and Drug Administration, that allow the company
to sell a powdery protein made of pasteurized bacteria.

Edible microbes face considerable hurdles to going mainstream,
however. Would-be producers need to ensure that their organisms are
safe to eat in large quantities and amenable to mass production. And
ideally, any new product should look, feel, and taste as good as the
food it replaces — and be able to overcome any skepticism from
consumers uncertain about using bacteria in their kitchen.

For now, few edible microbes are ready for primetime, according to
Onyeaka and other experts. Still, said Onyeaka, “the potential is
there.”

According to a report
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the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for alternative
proteins, at least 80 companies are focused on producing food from
yeast, bacteria, fungi, certain strains of algae, and other
microorganisms. Some products are already on the market, wrote Adam
Leman, a GFI scientist. In an email to Undark, he pointed to Quorn, a
meat substitute made from fungal cells that was launched in 1985.

Over the past decade, a boomlet of new companies has emerged. Among
them is Solar Foods. Prior to co-founding the company in 2017, CEO
Pasi Vainikka worked for a government-owned research center, where he
oversaw the largest renewable energy program in Finland. Agriculture
is responsible for a large portion of the world’s greenhouse gas
emissions, said Vainikka. Cow burps
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deforestation are particularly problematic.

One solution, Vainikka continued, is to replace livestock with an
organism that doesn’t produce much greenhouse gas or require fertile
land. His company selected a bacterium from nature that doesn’t eat
sugar or perform photosynthesis. Instead, it gets its energy from
hydrogen. At the company’s factory in Finland, carbon dioxide is
captured from the surrounding air. Electricity is used to split water
molecules, freeing up hydrogen atoms. The microbes multiply in a
fermentation machine as they consume the hydrogen, the carbon dioxide,
and a few additional nutrients, such as calcium and phosphorus.

Eventually, the bacteria are removed from the fermenter, pasteurized,
and dried. The final product — dubbed Solein — is about 75 percent
protein, has a yellow hue, and tastes a bit like mushrooms. Solein has
been used in restaurants in Singapore, said Vainikka, including as a
milk substitute in ice cream. The company recently filed paperwork
with U.S. regulators saying that the ingredients are generally
recognized as safe
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and according to Vainikka, the goal is to introduce Solein as an
ingredient in packaged goods at some point in 2025.

IN HER U.K. lab, Onyeaka is growing _Chlorella vulgaris_, a green
single-celled algae about 2 to 10 microns in diameter — roughly the
width of a strand of spider silk. She and a graduate student feed the
algae different nutrients to influence its protein content. The end
goal, said Onyeaka, is to grow nutritious algae in quantities large
enough to be used as flour by the baking industry. “At the end of
the work, we’re going to be making green bread, green cakes — so
watch out,” she said with a laugh.

Onyeaka readily admits her _Chlorella _has a long way to go. Last
November, she co-authored a review article
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challenges along that path — including high production costs and the
organism’s capacity to accumulate heavy metals from the surrounding
environment. She and her team will eventually have to ensure that the
microbe is safe for human consumption by testing it for potential
toxins and allergens, among other risks.

Another issue highlighted in the review paper: _Chlorella _doesn’t
taste very good. (The researchers describe “an earthy, strong flavor
and smell” that is “quite unpleasant” to some consumers.) The
product may need to be blended with other strong-flavored ingredients,
the paper suggests, or perhaps researchers might look for new, more
mild strains.

Some people are finding ways to make microbes delicious. Chef Greg
Baxtrom was initially approached to see if he’d be interested in
serving a meal featuring Solein at his Brooklyn restaurant, Olmsted.
He didn’t want to force the new product onto the menu, he said, but
was curious to see if he might be able to use the protein-rich powder
to create egg- or dairy-free versions of some of the restaurant’s
classic dishes.

He couldn’t get the Solein to work as an egg substitute in his
carrot crepe. But he could get it to replace the crepe’s butter and
milk. And Solein did work as an egg substitute in a beer batter for
squash rings. Ultimately, he found it worked particularly well as a
milk substitute in spaetzle, a German noodle traditionally made from
milk, flour, and eggs.

Baxtrom said he planned to experiment with the product a bit more in
January. “I’m not going to try to force it, but if it works, then
great,” he said. “I can accommodate more allergies.”

Vainikka said that he frequently consumes Solein in dishes served at
the small restaurant located within Solar Foods’ headquarters. In
the long run, he said, he sees the business as “an organism company
with a selection of different strains for different purposes.” A
person might balk at glass of yellow milk made from Solein, he pointed
out, but perhaps there’s a white microbe that would be less visually
objectionable. The company could also supply microbes with different
tastes, textures, and nutritional profiles, said Vainikka.

For her part, Onyeaka is looking beyond academia, communicating with
companies that share her interest in _Chlorella_. Using advanced
molecular tools, one Chinese company has learned that the typically
green microbe can change colors, depending on what it’s fed, she
said.

She added, “_Chlorella_ is just amazing.”

 

_UPDATE: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the
production process at Solar Foods, suggesting that a fermentation
machine captures carbon dioxide and water from the surrounding air.
Different machinery captures the carbon dioxide; the fermentation
machine is where the microbes grow and multiply. The story has been
updated._

* microbes
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* food
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* industrialized food production
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