The United States for the first time authorized two companies to sell chicken created directly from animal cells, thus paving the way for the consumption of laboratory-generated meat.
The US Department of Agriculture reviewed and approved the labels for Upside Foods and Good Meat, a spokesperson told AFP.. The companies added that such chicken meat would soon be available in some restaurants.
Both companies had already been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – which regulates the quality of these products – in November, and the Department gave its approval last week.
“This approval will fundamentally change the way meat reaches our table,” Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, said in a statement.. “It is a gigantic step towards a more sustainable future that preserves choice and life,” he stressed.
Josh Tetrick, CEO of GOOD Meat, Eat Just's cultured foods division, added: “We've been the only company to sell cultured meat anywhere in the world since we launched it in Singapore in 2020, and it's now approved for sale to consumers.” consumers in the largest economy in the world,” he said.
Upon approval, Upside processed its first order, placed by chef Dominique Crenn's three-Michelin-starred restaurant Bar Crenn in San Francisco.
Good Meat, for its part, began production of its first batch, which will be sold to the famous Spanish chef and philanthropist José Andrés, who will offer the product at an as yet unidentified Washington restaurant.
Several companies aspire to produce so-called lab-generated meat, which would allow people to consume animal protein without the environmental damage associated with farming and without any animal suffering.
The products differ from plant-based substitutes, such as soy burgers, which mimic the texture and flavor of meat but contain no animal protein.
The Eat Just Lab. ChiuAP
Eat Just was the first company to be licensed to manufacture artificial meat, in Singapore in 2020.
Although succeeding in the general market for laboratory meat is complicated and expensive, some firms have set their sights on pet food, whose consumers are less demanding.
Colorado start-up Bond Pet Foods creates animal protein from a microbial fermentation process to feed dogs.
Environmentally sound? Maybe not
Creating meat in a laboratory consists first of extracting cells from a live animal or from a fertilized egg, to generate a cell bank that can be kept frozen for decades. Those cells thrive in steel tanks where they are fed nutrients similar to what animals would eat.
Weeks later, the resulting product is “harvested” and shaped into chicken fillets or satay.
Although this type of meat is presented as an environmentally friendly alternative, researchers at the University of California at Davis objected in a study published last month, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.
They considered that the environmental impact of the meat created is probably higher, at least in the case of beef, depending on the production methods. This would be due to the energy required and the greenhouse gases emitted at all stages of production.
One of the most significant factors is the use of “purified growth media,” or the ingredients used to help animal cells multiply using methods similar to those used by biotech companies to make pharmaceuticals.
“If companies have to purify growth media to pharmaceutical levels, more resources are used, increasing the global warming potential,” explained study lead author Derrick Risner.