US Approves Sale of Lab-Grown Chicken for the First Time

The United States has approved the sale of chicken grown from animal cells for the first time, after the US Department of Agriculture granted inspection to UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat today (Wednesday, June 21).

It's the final regulatory hurdle for both companies. UPSIDE Foods, based in Emeryville, California, received its safety clearance from the Food and Drug Administration last November, a story we covered at the time. GOOD Meat, part of Eat Just, followed in March. Now both have the USDA sign-off they need to put their products on American plates.

The first diners won't be in supermarkets just yet. ABC News reports that UPSIDE's chicken will debut at Bar Crenn in San Francisco, run by chef Dominique Crenn, while GOOD Meat will launch with chef and restaurateur José Andrés. Neither company has given a date for first availability.

Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just, said:

We have been the only company selling cultivated meat anywhere in the world since we launched in Singapore in 2020, and now it's approved to sell to consumers in the world's largest economy.

The meat is grown from a small sample of cells in steel tanks called cultivators, rather than raised and slaughtered. The Good Food Institute says that, when produced at scale using renewable energy, cultivated meat could cut the carbon footprint of beef by up to 92%, land use by 90% and water use by 66%. Those are projections rather than proven figures, but the direction is hard to argue with. UC Davis has a useful explainer on how the US regulates it.

It isn't vegan, of course, and plant-based chicken is already in every supermarket. But for the billions of people who aren't ready to give up meat, a version that doesn't need a single animal to die is a huge step.

It's been a fast journey. In 2020 Singapore became the first country to approve lab-grown chicken, last year the Dutch government put €60 million into cultivated meat, and even the Tyson Foods CEO saw the need to move beyond meat back in 2017. Google's Eric Schmidt predicted exactly this kind of food revolution seven years ago.

The future of meat might not involve animals at all.