The FDA has given its approval for the commercial production of cultivated meat, which is also referred to as lab-grown meat. Both Upside Foods and Good Meat, firms that produce what they refer to as “cultivated chicken,” said on Wednesday that they have received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture to begin producing their cell-based proteins.
Good Meat, a company that is owned by Eat Just, a company that manufactures plant-based egg substitutes, said that production will begin immediately. The meat that is cultivated in a laboratory or developed in a vat is grown in a massive vat, similar to what you would find in a beer brewery.
The action taken on Wednesday is the latest in a string of approvals that have cleared the way for the commercial sale of meat produced in a laboratory.
Good Meat and Upside both announced the previous week that they had gained permission from the USDA for the labelling that will appear on their products. In March, Good announced that it had been in possession of a letter from the Food and Drug Administration referred to as a “no questions” letter. The administration is satisfied, as stated in the letter, that the product can be sold in the United States without risk to consumers’ health. In November, the FDA sent a notice to Upside Foods that was quite identical to this one.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are tasked with supervising the developing market for grown meat.
