The tasting was shown live via the Cultured Burger website
The world's first stem cell burger was unveiled at a special taster session in 2013

The scientist behind the world's first burger created entirely in a laboratory using stem cells has promised to improve its taste but also make it affordable.

Dr Mark Post unveiled his synthetically created patty, estimated to have cost around £220,000 ($340,000), in front of a specially invited audience at a secret venue in London in 2013.

Cooked by Cornwall chef Richard McGeown and tasted by Austrian food researcher Hanni Rützler and Chicago author Josh Schonwald, the stem cell burger was described as "close to meat" but missing certain qualities and flavour of a regular burger.

"I was expecting the texture to be more soft," said Rützler. "There is quite some intense taste, it's close to meat, but it's not that juicy. The consistency is perfect, but I miss salt and pepper."

Speaking at a presentation at FT15: Where Science Feeds Innovation hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in Chicago, Post said he is now confident he will be able to improve the taste of his burger and also bring down the price.

"It's realistic that we can do this," said Post. "We're starting a company to do this. Initially, it's going to be a very expensive product but given there's a hamburger in one restaurant for $450, there's a market for them."

He predicts he could end up selling his stem cell burger meat for a little as £41 per kilo.

Post, chair of the department of physiology and professor of vascular physiology and tissue engineering at Maastricht University, hopes to launch the company later in 2015.

Following the taster session in 2013, Post said he was pleased how his burger appeared to have passed the test, but still needed to mimic the fatty taste of a normal burger.

He said: "They came up with the same analysis as me: 'It's OK, it's much better than any other replacement we've seen but it's not there yet.'"