Cell-Cultivated Chicken Meat Receives Green Light from US Regulators

US authorities have approved the sale of chicken created from animal cells for the first time. Two California-based firms, Upside Foods and Good Meat, may now sell "lab-grown" meat to restaurants nationwide, aiming to sell it in supermarkets.

The US Agriculture Department's clearance denoted a substantial change in the methods used to produce meat. In the battle to make meat from cells grown in a lab rather than animals killed for food, Upside Foods and Good Meat have been at the forefront, according to AP News.

This breakthrough, also known as "cell-cultivated" or "cultured" meat, intends to end animal suffering and drastically minimize the environmental effects of conventional meat production, such as land use, water use, and animal waste.

Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just, the organization that owns Good Meat, expressed excitement for the novel strategy. He emphasized the advantages of the new food technology of producing meat in "a different way" without "all of that land and all of that water that's used to feed all of these animals that are slaughtered."

A Welcome Development

Upside Foods and Good Meat completed stringent government inspections and obtained the required certifications to sell meat and poultry in the United States. The US Food and Drug Administration evaluated both firms' goods for many months before determining they were safe for eating.

The meat produced by Upside Foods and Good Meat will be identified as "cell-cultivated chicken" when it is sold to customers.

A manufacturing business working with Good Meat, Joinn Biologics, also received authorization to create these cultured meat products. The sale of Good Meat's cell-cultivated meat has already been authorized in Singapore, where it has been readily accessible since December 2020, CNBC reported.

The industry's reaction to the US government's clearance of cultured meat has been enthusiastic. Famous chef Jose Andres ordered Good Meat's cultured chicken for an unknown Washington, DC, restaurant. Similarly, San Francisco's Bar Crenn will serve a limited quantity of developed chicken from Upside Foods.

How Is Cell-Cultivated Meat Made?

Starting with adequately chosen cells, the meat-growing process may begin. Live animal cells are used by Upside Foods, especially those with appealing flavor characteristics and reliable reproduction capacity. These cells are mixed with a nutrient-rich solution in enormous tanks called cultivators. The cells quickly proliferate over three weeks to produce huge sheets of bird flesh molded into cutlets, sausages, and other items.

A commercially available chicken cell line was used to create the master cell bank that Good Meat uses, as per a New York Post report. A broth-like substance containing the vital nutrients needed for development is mixed with the cells. The cells grow into large masses within the cultivators, ultimately forming various meat products.

Although initial production would be modest, Upside Foods plans to increase its Emeryville facility's ability to produce up to 400,000 pounds of developed meat products yearly.

The United States, in comparison, presently produces around 50 billion pounds of chicken annually.