FDA Says Lab-Grown Meat is Safe for Human Consumption

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA has cleared a meat product grown from animal cells for human consumption, the agency said on Wednesday.

“The world is experiencing a food revolution and the U.S. FDA is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement.

Now, Upside Foods will be able to bring its products to market once it has been inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said the FDA. Upside Foods makes cell-cultured chicken by harvesting cells from live animals and using the cells to grow meat in stainless-steel tanks.

The FDA said it’s ready to work with additional firms developing cultured animal cell food and production processes, including those made from seafood cells.

Cultivated chicken was served to attendees at this year’s COP27 climate conference in Egypt. Meat alternatives was a topic discussed in the event.

“This is a watershed moment in the history of food,” Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, said in a statement. “This milestone marks a major step towards a new era in meat production.”

According to the Food Institute report, venture capitalists invested $2 billion in cultivated protein last year.