Are we ready for the revolutionary “air butter”, made only of carbon dioxide?

The “air butter” is already reality, even if it seems almost science fiction. If the vegetable alternatives to products of animal origin have already been on the market for a while (even the Voie Gras, the corresponding veg of the foie gras), and are making us get used to a more sustainable diet (and even healthier, say the data), in this case the step forward is even wider. How the name makes the name, in fact, iThe “air butter” is produced in the laboratory starting from carbon dioxide and waterwithout the use of ingredients of animal or vegetable origin.

To develop it – and to announce the next commercial launch – is Savora Californian startup which deals with developing food alternatives in the laboratory, creating what many – even in the world of coffee, for example – consider the food of the future (at least in part): a veg food, but also more sustainablewhich can be produced in a cruelty-free way and that can compensate for the problems caused to agricultural productions by climate change.

The start -up, which proves to be the avant -garde with the launch of this new product, also has among the financiers also the coach of Microsoft Bill Gates, which has always been an economic supporter of reality that look to the future of nutrition from new perspectives.

How the “air butter” is made

“Consumers guide the change in the food system,” he explained Kathleen Alexander, CEO and co-founder of Savor, in presenting this butter that butter is not (and that considering the previous ones on Meat Sounding Probably they cannot be called butter, at least in Italy). “We have designed this process so that it is widely scalable and, to achieve our goals, we want to get in touch with as many people as possible to feed the enthusiasm for the promises and opportunities of this job”.

In its fat production plant in Illinois, Savor transforms inputs derived from methane and carbon dioxide into a wide range of fats. Carbon forms fatty acid chains, which are made to react with hydrogen and oxygen, and then add – just as if it were a recipe – water, salt and beta -carotene, a natural pigment that serves to give the finished product the typical yellow color of the butter. A process that is independent of the carbon source: the fats and oils produced by Savor come from paraffins derived from methane and carbon dioxide: both carbon dioxide and methane are present in abundance in our world and are both rich carbon sources that can be reconstructed in fat.

A choice of Environmental sustainedthey say from Savor, given that to produce a kilo of real butter they serve from 5 to 14 kg of co₂while for the “air butter” the gaseous emissions are limited to 0.8 g.

Among the fats created by Savor, milk fats are among the most complex from a chemical point of view. They are also the fats for which, as human beings, we have the most developed perception from a gustatory point of view. So, The challenge of “air butter” promised itself as anything but simple. Still, they support Savor, it has been widely won, also as regards the flavor, which has been tested by chefs and professionals during two test dinners. “It is also without allergens, so lactose allergies are not a problem.”