It takes the saying waste not, want not, to a whole new level.

A Japanese scientist has developed a 'meat' burger made out of human excrement.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, came up with the novel approach after Tokyo Sewage asked him to come up with a way of using up the city's waste.

Mr Ikeda found that the poo which filled up the system was packed with protein because of all the bacteria.

His research team extracted the proteins to create an artificial steak, which is turned red with food colouring and flavoured with soy.

In a YouTube video posted recently he explained: 'We add reaction enhancer and put it in the exploder to produce the artificial meat.'

It is made up of 63 per cent protein, 25 per cent carbohydrates, three per cent lipids and nine per cent minerals.

But how has it gone down with the public? Well the team claims that in initial tests people reported it was delicious and tasted like beef.

And despite its unusual origins, the scientists argue that the new patties are far kinder to the environment as cattle create such a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

The 'meat' is currently 10 to 20 times more expensive than your average beef burger due to research costs, however Professor Ikeda hopes to bring costs down over time.

He added that the 'green' credentials of the poo patty would help consumers to overcome any 'psychological barriers' they might have.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)