US approves lab-grown chicken meat for sale
- The move means the US will become the second country after Singapore to allow the sale of ‘cultivated meat’
- Upside Foods and Good Meat will launch their products at high-end restaurants owned by world-famous chefs Jose Andres and Dominique Crenn
Two companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, said on Wednesday they have received final US Department of Agriculture approval to sell lab-grown meat, paving the way for the nation’s first-ever sales of the product.
With the approvals, the United States will become the second country after Singapore to allow the sale of so-called cultivated meat, which is derived from a sample of livestock cells that are fed and grown in steel vats.
The companies are the first to complete the multi-step US approval process for cultivated meat. The US Food and Drug Administration has already determined that the meat is safe to eat.
“It is a dream come true,” said Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside, in an interview. “It marks a new era.”
The companies, which both make cultivated chicken, plan to first serve their product at high-end restaurants before scaling production to reach a lower cost for grocery stores.