Lab-Grown Meat Receives Clearance From F.D.A.

The FDA has given the green light for a California company to sell lab-grown meat in the US.

On Wednesday afternoon, the agency said it had completed an evaluation of chicken from the company, Upside Foods, and had no further questions about the product's safety. It will probably take months, if not longer, before the product reaches consumers, and it first must be approved by the Department of Agriculture.

Liz Specht is the vice president of science and technology at the Good Food Institute. This is the first time that the F.D.A. has given the green light to a cultivated meat product.

The industry has been competing to bring the first lab-grown meat to market for over a decade. Animal cells are grown in a controlled environment in order to create a product that is biologically similar to meat. In Singapore, Good Meat's lab-grown chicken was greenlit in 2020.

The founder and chief executive of Upside Foods said he was going to India for his father's memorial service when he got the news from an employee who promised not to call him unless it was important.

In an interview at 2:30 a.m. local time, he said he wouldn't sleep soon.

The doctor said he got the idea to make cell-cultured meat after using stem cells. He founded the company after quitting his job and moving to California. Tyson Foods has invested in the company.

The news was a surprise because Upside Foods had been working to get the green light for a long time. The next step is for the Department of Agriculture to approve a label for the finished product. The chicken was expected to get confirmation from the Department of Agriculture in the coming months in order to get clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service refused to give a time line. Cell-cultured meat and poultry products will be subject to the same food safety, Sanitation and Inspection regulations as other meat and poultry products to ensure that only safe and wholesome products enter U.S. commerce.

The chicken would first be offered in restaurants before moving to grocery stores.

Concerns about global warming, the treatment of animals and industrial farming have led to increased investment in the cultivated meat industry. Compared with the traditional livestock sector, lab-grown meat is seen as a more sustainable option.

Critics point to unresolved questions surrounding the industry, and there is uncertainty about whether people will be willing to eat meat that was made in a lab. Prices have definitely decreased since the first cultivated burger was created for more than $300,000.

The FDA's decision could lead to additional approvals in the US and abroad. This sets a precedent. Scale up is what really matters in this industry.