What does human meat taste like? Scientists reveal the unique flavour of our flesh – as Gregg Wallace claims to sample ‘human meat’ in bizarre TV show

Viewers on Channel 4 were disgusted last night after watching a bizarre program in which Gregg Wallace appeared to be eating human flesh.

The satirical documentary, dubbed ‘Gregg Wallace: British Miracle Meat’, saw the controversial presenter go on tour a factory that produced “manipulated human flesh” before trying it yourself.

Although the program was a parody, many viewers admitted to falling for it, tweeting that it “got sick of it.”

But what does human flesh actually taste like?

Cannibalism is generally believed to be very wrong, but some have let their curiosity overcome them. MailOnline reviews the accounts of those who have tried it.

In the 1920s, American adventurer William Buehler Seabrook set out to give a detailed account of the societies that devour human flesh.

He even went so far as to taste it himself when he met the Guero people of West Africa, and wrote about his experiences in his book ‘Jungle Ways’, published in 1931.

The explorer noted that the raw meat resembled beef, but less red and with slightly yellow fat.

And once cooked, it turned gray and smelled like beef.

As for the taste, he wrote, “It was so much like good, fully developed veal that I think no one with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitivity could tell it from veal.”

Seabrook’s account is considered unreliable by many, as he later confessed that Guero tribesmen refused to let him participate in their tradition.

He claimed he made up for the disappointment by taking a piece of meat from the body of a dead hospital patient in France and cooking it on a spit.

But experts consider his description the most useful, as most commentaries on cannibalism come from the criminally insane and are often contradictory.

Seabrook’s account is considered unreliable by many, as he later confessed that Guero tribesmen refused to let him participate in their tradition.

The survivors of the 1972 Andes plane crash were forced to eat their fellow passengers to survive – but claim in their accounts that the frozen meat was tasteless

German cannibal Armin Meiwes insisted that human flesh tastes like pork “but a little more bitter, stronger,” while Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa described it as “tender and soft” like tuna.

Sagawa, who killed a Dutch woman named Renée Hartevelt in 1981, said that in [his] mouth like raw tuna in a sushi restaurant.’

Meanwhile, the survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes were forced to eat their fellow passengers to survive, but in their accounts claimed the frozen meat was tasteless.

Survivor Nando Parrado recalled, “When I ate my first piece, it had no taste. I forced myself to swallow – without guilt. I ate to live.’

Last year, Russian killer Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikolayev spoke about how he first ate human flesh in 1997.

He argued with a man who stood at the door of his building, beat and killed him, then dismembered his body.

Only after taking the man’s head and limbs did he realize that nothing could stop his curiosity to eat this man.

“Suddenly something caught my eye and I thought I’d try it,” Nikolayev told National Geographic.

“I cut off a piece of meat from his thigh and cooked it.”

He said he “didn’t like” the taste of it raw, so he ended up baking it.

Nikolayev was also accused of selling about 5 kg of human flesh in an open market, claiming it was kangaroo meat.

He was eventually caught after a woman noticed the unusual taste and took it to a doctor for examination, where it was discovered that it contained human blood.

In 2006, researchers from NEC System Technologies and Mie University developed a robot that can identify wine by its taste. But when reporters started putting their hands in the bot’s jaws, it was determined they were bacon and prosciutto

Last year, Russian killer Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikolayev spoke about how he first ate human flesh in 1997

Due to the taboo nature of the act, few legitimate scientific studies have examined the true taste of cooked human flesh.

Human meat is rich in the highly pigmented protein myoglobin, meaning it meets the general definition of “red meat,” such as beef.

In 2006, researchers at NEC System technologies and Mie University developed a robot that can identify wine by its taste – an ‘electro-mechanical sommelier’.

But when reporters started putting their hands in the bot’s jaws, they were determined to be bacon and prosciutto — giving legs a pork-like flavor.

And in 2014, BBC science journalist Greg Foot had a piece of muscle removed from his calf to investigate what it would taste like.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

While he didn’t eat it, the biopsy was processed in the lab to get an idea of ​​its texture, before it was cooked and the resulting aromas analyzed.

He found that the muscle contained fibers similar to those found in both chicken breast and some cuts of beef.

About the smell of the cooked meat, Foot says, “It actually smells pretty good. It’s really meaty…much richer than pork or chicken.”

He added that it “looked similar to a beef and beer stew.”

In the UK and US there are no specific laws against cannibalism.

However, the acts that would see a person go to a place where they can eat someone are.

These included murder, for which Meiwes was convicted, the theft of human tissue, and the prevention of a lawful burial.

Despite this, and conflicting accounts about the taste, some experts say cannibalism could be a solution to climate change.

In 2019, Swedish scientist Professor Magnus Soderlund suggested that dead bodies would be more sustainable than the meat and dairy industry – or even eating insects – if food sources become scarce in the future.

He also claimed that “conversations” about cannibalism taboos can change over time and that people can be “tricked” into “making the right decisions,” reports the Epoch Times.