US allows sale of 'cultured meat' from animal cells

Food made from cultured meat by Good Meat

According to the AP news agency, the US Department of Agriculture on June 21 gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat to become the first businesses in the US to sell meat that does not come from slaughtered animals. The meat they create in the lab and will bring to the table is now called "cell-cultivated" or "cultured" meat.

These are the first lab-grown meats to be approved for sale in the United States. The approval opens a new era in meat production, aiming to eliminate animal harm and significantly reduce the environmental impact of grazing, raising animal feed, and animal waste.

"This approval will fundamentally change the way meat appears on our dinner tables... This is a huge step towards a more sustainable future," AFP news agency quoted Mr. Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of Upside Foods.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded several months ago that products from both companies are safe to eat. Good Meat’s manufacturing partner, Joinn Biologics, is also licensed to manufacture the products.

Cultured meat is produced in steel vats using cells taken from live animals, fertilized eggs or a special cell bank. At Upside, the meat comes out in large sheets, then is processed into products shaped like cutlets and sausages. Good Meat, which sells cultured meat in Singapore – the first country to allow it – turns large amounts of chicken cells into cutlets, meatballs, patties and skewers.

But these new meats are unlikely to appear in U.S. supermarkets anytime soon. Ricardo San Martin, director of the Alt:Meat Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, said cultured chicken is much more expensive than farm-raised poultry and cannot yet be produced on the same scale as traditional meat.

The two companies plan to serve their new foods first in exclusive restaurants: Upside has partnered with a San Francisco (California, USA) restaurant called Bar Crenn, while Good Meat's products will be served at a Washington DC (USA) restaurant owned by chef José Andrés.

The two companies are also quick to note that their products are actually meat, not meat substitutes like the Impossible Burger or Beyond Meat products, which are made from plant proteins and other ingredients.

Globally, more than 150 companies are working on producing cell-cultured meat, not just chicken but also pork, lamb, fish and beef.

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