28-6-2023 (NEW YORK) Cultivated meat grown from animal cells in bioreactors will soon be available on plates across the United States. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the sale of cultivated chicken from two food technology companies, marking the dawn of lab-grown meat in America.
California-based Eat Just’s Good Meat division and Upside Foods received the green light from the USDA to sell their cultivated chicken, which is produced by feeding animal cells a nutrient-rich culture medium to grow meat in sterile bioreactors. Good Meat currently offers cultivated chicken in Singapore and will debut in the U.S. in partnership with renowned chef José Andrés at his Washington D.C. restaurant, China Chilcano. Upside Foods will launch its cultivated chicken at Dominique Crenn’s Bar Crenn in San Francisco.
While more expensive to produce presently, cultivated meat companies aim to achieve price parity with conventional meat as production scales up. “Our goal is to make Upside products available to anyone who enjoys eating meat,” said a spokesperson for Upside Foods. “We want them to be equally suitable for a Michelin-star restaurant or a backyard barbecue.”
The USDA’s approval indicates the safety and proper labeling of cultivated meat, according to Bryan Hitchcock of the Institute of Food Technologists. “Without the approval, these concepts were limited to laboratories and theories,” he said. Cultivated chicken was found to have a nutritional profile comparable to its conventionally produced counterpart, the USDA and FDA concluded.
Cultivated meat is grown in sterile bioreactors by feeding animal cells a nutrient-rich culture medium to multiply and become skeletal muscle, fat, and connective tissue. The process takes 2 to 8 weeks and does not require antibiotics or slaughtering animals, though cultivated meat remains meat and not vegan, vegetarian or plant-based. While research suggests cultivated meat could have environmental benefits like lower emissions and pollution compared to industrial animal agriculture, experts note more data is needed to determine its full environmental impact at scale.
Safety and consumer acceptance pose challenges for cultivated meat. Just 18% of adults said they were likely to try cultivated meat in a recent survey, citing reasons like “it just sounds weird” and safety concerns. “Whenever there is a new technology, consumers are often hesitant,” Hitchcock said. “Approval from global regulatory bodies coupled with education and transparency in how products are created and tested is critical to growing consumer confidence.”
With cultivated meat’s dawn in the U.S., the future of food is here. As production expands and prices drop, cultivated meat could transform industrial animal agriculture and introduce a sustainable new protein source. While consumer adoption and environmental impact remain uncertain, the promise of cultivated meat is rich. The age of lab-grown meat has begun.
