Two companies that grow “cultivated” chicken in fermentation vats rather than slaughtering poultry said on Wednesday their products will soon be sold in U.S. restaurants now that they have received final clearance from the government. “This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to the table,” exulted Uma Valeti, chief executive of UPSIDE Foods.
Rival GOOD Meat said approval to produce and sell “cultivated meat,” the industry’s preferred term for what was previously known as cell-cultured meat, in the United States “is a major moment for our company, the industry, and the food system.”
Both companies planned glitzy debuts for their meat at tony restaurants, in San Francisco for UPSIDE Foods and in Washington, D.C., for GOOD Meat. UPSIDE Foods also announced a contest offering a chance to tour its facilities and dine on its cultivated chicken. “This is the beginning of a whole new era in meat production,” it said on Instagram.
Proponents say cell-cultured meat, like the plant-based proteins now on the market, are a cruelty-free and environmentally preferable alternative to massive livestock farms and slaughterhouses. The meat industry derides the rival products as fake meat and has challenged the industry’s right to use names associated with livestock, such as steak. Cultivated meat is expensive to produce at present, and volumes are small.
Regulation of cultivated meat is split between the FDA and USDA. In the past several months, the FDA cleared cultivated chicken as safe to eat. Now the USDA, which oversees the harvest, processing, packaging, and labeling of meats, has given a grant of inspection to the companies. “For the first time in history, [USDA] will assign inspectors to GOOD Meat and other cultivated meat and poultry facilities,” said GOOD Meat, based in Alameda, California.
Former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman said USDA approval “demonstrates that the United States is a global leader in the promising alternative protein space while also continuing to support family farmers’ efforts to feed the world through conventional food and agriculture techniques.”
UPSIDE Foods, based in Berkeley, California, says its products “are not vegan or vegetarian — they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals.”
Chicken is the most popular meat in the United States, with consumption estimated at 100 pounds per person this year. “Americans are set to eat a record amount of chicken this year, and we don’t see that demand waning,” said Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council, on social media. “I think most Americans want their chicken raised on a farm, not in a laboratory.”