The Agriculture Department this week granted approval for laboratory-grown meat producers to sell their products on the U.S. market.
The decision paves the way for two California-based companies — Upside Foods and Good Meat — to sell chicken produced from animal cells.
Although cultivated protein products will likely not reach grocery stores for several more years, the USDA ruling will eventually allow the sale of lab-produced meat across state lines after passing federal inspections, opening up a new protein market that could prove to be more affordable and more ecological.
Environmentalists have heralded the decision as a watershed moment for cultivated meat producers.
