The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has for the first time given its approval for the marketing of a poultry meat product, developed by laboratory methods and intended for human consumption. This is chicken meat that has been cultured in a laboratory, using cells from living animals as raw material.
The product is produced by the company Upside Foods, which uses animal cells to produce meat inside stainless steel bioreactor tanks. The company, which was founded in 2015 and is based in Berkeley, California, and has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars, assured that its product is safe for humans and the FDA agreed.
“The world is experiencing a nutritional revolution, and the FDA is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply,” said a related statement from officials of the competent supervisory authority. However, before lab-grown meat can go on the market, it must be approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Service and Inspection Service.
Laboratory-grown chicken was served to participants at the COP27 international climate conference in Egypt, according to Reuters. A sign that demand is growing for alternatives to farmed meat that has significant implications for climate change, due to the many “greenhouse gas” emissions released in the production chain.
