US approves sale of lab meat

Meat grown from cell cultures can now be sold in the US. The US is the second country in the world to sell lab meat, after Singapore.

Lab-grown meat can now be sold in the US. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given California-based Upside Foods and Good Meat the final approval to sell farmed chicken.

“It’s a dream come true,” Upside boss Uma Valetti said. “It marks a new era.” For Good Meat boss Josh Detrick, the approval marks a milestone in the company’s history: “We’re now allowed to sell to consumers in the world’s largest economy.”

Available at restaurants only

The US is the second country after Singapore to allow the sale of lab-grown meat. In Singapore, Good Meat’s parent company, Eat Just, had already received approval to sell lab meat in 2020. However, chicken from cell cultures is not yet available from retail outlets in Singapore, let alone restaurants.

In the United States, lab chicken was initially only available in restaurants. Both companies already have orders from one celebrity chef each in San Francisco and Washington. After a test run in high-end gastronomy, they want to expand their production capacity – and then consumers will be able to buy laboratory meat in supermarkets.

More eco-friendly Meaty out Factory farming

Laboratory meat from cell cultures has the advantage of containing animal proteins without factory farms and animal slaughter. Cultured meat is derived from a sample of animal cells that are fed and grown in steel tanks.

That’s why laboratory meat is also referred to as “clean meat”: if meat is produced without factory farming, environmental pollution is reduced. According to research consultants CE Delft and GFI, using “green” electricity from renewable sources for farming can reduce beef’s carbon footprint by up to 92 percent.