The use of cultivated meat has received approval in the US for the first time. A decision by the Food and Drug Administration will soon allow a company by the name of Upside Foods to sell chicken made from real animal cells grown in bioreactors instead of needing to slaughter live animals.
The FDA’s approval has long been anticipated as the next significant step for the industry of cultured meat. Startups in the industry have built small production facilities and raised billions of dollars in venture capital funding over the last few years, but they haven’t been able to market their goods to the general public. The few individuals who have been permitted to sample cultivated meat up until now have been required to sign waivers acknowledging the experimental nature of the food.
Customers won’t be able to purchase produced meat unless two more minor regulatory steps are taken. Before food can be marketed in the US, it must first have an inspection mark, which requires clearance from the US Department of Agriculture. This certification must also be given for the examination of Upside’s production facilities. The extensive premarket consultation process by the FDA that resulted in the approval is likely to take much less time to complete than these two procedures. Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside, says that it’s the moment they’ve been working toward for the past, almost seven years now. Every corporation in the world is attempting to open up the US market.
The focus of many enterprises is on a variety of cultured meats, including beef, chicken, salmon, and tuna. This statement only relates to Upside Foods and its cultured chicken, but further announcements may be made shortly. Through this premarket consultation process, the FDA gets information regarding the manufacturing procedures and products produced by food manufacturers. Once the FDA is satisfied that the method is secure, it then issues a “no further questions” letter. The FDA’s approval means that consumers may soon be able to sample grown meat products, however, it’s probable that sampling will only be accessible at a very small number of upscale restaurants. In San Francisco, Dominique Crenn’s Michelin-starred restaurant Atelier Crenn will serve the newly developed chicken from Upside Foods.
The FDA’s ruling does not herald the imminent availability of domesticated meat in large quantities. Due to the current manufacturing facilities’ modest size, many in the industry seriously doubt if lab-grown meat would ever be able to reduce the world’s consumption of meat. Valeti compares the current state of the cultured meat industry to the early stages of the electric car sector and states that “the next phase for us and the industry is establishing scalability.” Our industry is comparable in that it will take five, ten, or fifteen years to grow up and become accessible to the majority of people in many regions of the world. But the future is here.
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