The US has become only the second country in the world to approve the sale and consumption of cultivated meat in a landmark move for cellular agriculture. Approval was granted to two start-ups in the space, GOOD Meat and Upside Foods, who needed to pass inspections of their respective facilities before being granted the right to commercialise their cultivated produce.
GOOD Meat didn't waste any time in getting started on production of its first cultivated chicken which would head to sale, with the meat previously only sold in Singapore at restaurant 1880 and Huber's Butchery. GOOD Meat has also teamed up with chef and restaurateur José Andrés, who operates over 30 restaurants across the country, to sell its cultivated meats in these venues.
Upside Foods has also moved fast, confirming that its cultivated chicken will feature on the menu at San Francisco's Bar Crenn, the restaurant owned by three Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn.
Speaking about the landmark news, thefoodpeople director and co-founder Charles Banks said: "Last week history was made as Upside Foods got the clearance from the USDA (it already had FDA approval) to produce and sell its cell-cultivated chicken in the United States, alongside GOOD Meat. Whatever your views on this ground-breaking technology it marks a new era for animal protein production. When we spoke to Ira Van Eelen at last year's trend summit we spoke about the commercialisation being up to two years away in the US. It has actually happened in half that time.
"This development is likely to set a precedence for regulatory approval across the globe as many governing bodies had been watching closely. Although this approval is the culmination of years of dedicated research at Upside (formally Memphis Meats), we should also acknowledge the many visionaries whose dream this was 40+ years ago and the extraordinary hard work that so many across the globe have put in to get to this point. Whilst acknowledging the progress made to date, arguably the challenges that come are still some of the biggest in terms of scale up, cost and of course responsibly taking consumers on the journey of acceptance.
"As part of our tracker with Good Sense Research – Future Food, we've seen a steady increase over the last 2 years in those that would be open to eating dishes made with cellular meats when eating out of home, this now sits at 29% stating that they find the concept very/fairly appealing. Like everyone, we watch with interest the roll out of this revolutionary technology the first step of which will see it featured on the menu at three-Michelin Star chef Dominique Crenn's 'Bar Crenn' a long-time supporter of this technology."
Find out more about GOOD Meat and Upside Foods.