NEW TECH FOODS

Key takeaways

Innovation: Serum-free, food-graded cell culture medium developed via probiotics recycling.

Cost reduction: Potential to lower production costs by over 99.8%.

Applications: Relevant for food production, biopharmaceuticals and regenerative medicine.

Ethical considerations: Eliminates reliance on fetal bovine serum (FBS), addressing ethical and supply chain concerns.

Simple Planet, a South Korean alternative protein lab, has announced the development of an innovative serum-free cell culture medium derived from probiotics recycling.

This innovation aims to provide food manufacturers, biopharmaceutical companies and regenerative medicine sectors with a scalable and cost-effective alternative to conventional culture media.

The newly developed medium is poised to reduce production costs by over 99.8%, significantly altering the landscape for cell-based food production and other applications. Traditional cell culture media often rely on fetal bovine serum (FBS), which presents ethical concerns and high costs associated with animal-derived components.

By replacing FBS with metabolites derived from probiotics, Simple Planet’s medium not only mitigates these challenges but also aligns with the growing demand for ethical sourcing in food production.

Dominic Jeong, co-founder and CEO of Simple Planet, highlighted the implications of this innovation: “The reliance on fetal bovine serum has long posed cost and ethical challenges for scaling cell-based technologies. Our fully edible, serum-free medium offers a practical and sustainable solution for large-scale applications across multiple industries.”

The serum-free medium has undergone rigorous testing in collaboration with leading global research institutions and innovation centres.

Results indicate enhanced myoblast cell proliferation while maintaining normal cell morphology, establishing the medium as a reliable alternative to traditional options. This performance is crucial for food manufacturers looking to develop cell-based products that meet both safety and quality standards.

Simple Planet has also introduced cell-type-specific formulations, including a bovine myoblast-specific medium, designed to ensure high performance at a lower cost. Ongoing research is focused on refining these formulations to broaden their applications in biopharmaceutical research and food technology.

As the demand for sustainable food alternatives continues to rise, Simple Planet's innovation addresses a critical gap in the market. The scalability of the serum-free medium is particularly relevant for food manufacturers exploring cell-based protein sources.

By eliminating the need for expensive recombinant growth factors, the new medium enhances the feasibility of producing cell-cultured foods at scale.

Jeong emphasised the company’s commitment to accessibility and cost-effectiveness in cell culture technology: “We create solutions that accelerate real-world adoption across industries by focusing on scalability, safety and regulatory alignment”.

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