Savor claims to be making one of the first foods in the world made entirely without the aid of photosynthesis. It’s a wild sounding claim from a California startup, but their mission is one of food reinvention, with the planet’s climate in mind. Zero carbon fats is their goal, and butter is their first product.
Its synthetic butter is supposedly nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Made using a thermochemical process to create an animal-like fat, it is free of the environmental footprint of both the dairy industry and plant-based alternatives.
Bill Gates was so impressed that he threw his persona, and investment into the startup, which plans to create all manner of fat-based foods that are made using CO2, water, and emulsifiers. The thermochemical step pulls carbon dioxide from the air, combining it with hydrogen and oxygen to create fat synthetically. Following that, water and an emulsifier turn it into butter. Beta carotene is added for color, and rosemary oil for flavor.
It’s sounds almost too good to be true, and shows how much food science has come over the last several years. No word on when we might be able to try their products, but we’re definitely intrigued.
Learn more on Savor’s website.
‘We start with a source of carbon, like carbon dioxide, and use a little bit of heat and hydrogen to form chains which are then blended with oxygen from air to make the fats & oils we know, love and drool over.
That’s how we get rich, delightful ingredients without animal suffering, palm plantations, or dangerous chemicals. All in the most efficient, most resilient, least polluting way known to science.’
