On June 22, 2023, the USDA approved lab-grown chicken for human consumption for the first time.
UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat (a subsidiary of food tech company Eat Just, Inc.) were given the go-ahead to sell products that have been cultivated from real animal cells. Good Meat launched in Singapore in 2020, when Singapore became the first country to approve the sale of cell-cultivated meat and now the USA has become the second country to do so.
This approval means the USDA considers these products safe to eat and the announcement followed a “no questions” letter from the FDA earlier this year. The FDA agreed that Good Meat’s chicken was safe to eat in March, and Upside received the same acknowledgement in November 2022. The final sign-off this week was the last hurdle for these two companies and they can now sell their lab-grown chicken in the USA.
Upside Foods has 140 employees and has acquired over $600 million in funding from people like Bill Gates, and meat companies Tyson and Cargill.
According to Amy Chen, the COO of Upside Foods: “So, essentially this is meat that you have always known but made in a new way…We start with a sample of cells, we feed them nutrients, vitamins, etc., in what we call a cultivator. And after anywhere from one to three weeks, they produce meat that we can then harvest and formulate into any delicious product that you love.”
Is it Expensive? Yes of course. Initially it will not be sold in grocery stores but only in two select premium restaurants – one in San Francisco and one in Washington, DC. That’s because UPSIDE now only produces 400,000 pounds per year currently whereas Tyson Foods, America’s biggest poultry manufacturer produces 200 million pounds per week. Naturally Upside’s plan is to expand to a commercial plant where millions of pounds can be produced – but that is several years away.
And the Carbon Foodprint?
As Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meats (a Dutch cultured meat company) explained “With regulators in Asia and North America signaling that cultivating meat is a safe alternative to slaughtering animals, policy makers worldwide will be jumping into action so as not to miss out on the huge economic and environmental opportunity presented by cellular agriculture.”
The traditional method of raising animals for slaughter is confrontational on many fronts. According to the Good Food Institute, an NGO working to advance plant-based and cultivated meats, lab-grown meat emits 80 percent less greenhouse gas than conventional meat production and requires no antibiotics. Supporters say that cultured meat is a huge step toward a more humane and ‘environmentally friendly meat industry.
Looking to the future
It will be many years before cultured chicken or other products are available for purchase at your local grocery store. No pricing has yet been revealed, which means it’s still too high for most consumers. There are 150 companies now throughout the world that are delving into the cultured meat industry, and they’ve already raised $3 billion, so it may not take as long as predicted. Expect to find beef, pork, lamb and fish in this category in the future.
Lily Noon
Sources:
Upside Foods’ lab-cultivated chicken among the first to receive USDA Approval, Yahoo Finance, June 26, 2023
USDA Approves Lab-Grown Chicken by Sabrina Halvorson, June 28, 2023, National Correspondent/Agnet Media, Inc.
USDA Approves First Lab-Grown Chicken in the United States by Will Sullivan, June 22, 2023, Smithsonian Magazine
USDA Approves ‘Lab-Grown’ Chicken – Here’s Where to Buy it by Ana Faguy, June 21, 2023, Forbes
