Is it Really Chicken?

In March 2023, leading data and analytics company GlobalData released a report saying that cellular agriculture is emerging as one of the key technologies for decarbonizing protein production systems by directly producing products from cells, without the need to raise animals for slaughter or growing crops. As the global population continues to grow with estimates of around 10 billion by 2050, the need for sustainable food systems has become more urgent.

According to Misa Singh, a business fundamentals analyst at GlobalData, cellular agriculture is an emerging solution for alternative proteins, with governments and companies promoting investments in the field. Singh added that cellular agriculture is also a sustainable option for limiting greenhouse emissions.

In June, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave the final approval to two companies, UPSIDE Foods and Good Meat to sell lab-grown meat in the United States. With these approvals, the US became the second country after Singapore to allow the sales of cultivated meat.

UPSIDE Foods Cultivated Chicken

California-based food technology brand UPSIDE Foods became the first company in the world to receive a "No Questions" letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cultivated meat, poultry, or seafood for its cultivated chicken in November 2022. Through the letter, the FDA accepted UPSIDE's conclusion that its cultivated chicken is safe to eat.

UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from animal cells. Its cultivated chicken is made from chicken cells grown in the lab. According to UPSIDE Foods, "their products are not vegan or vegetarian but delicious meat made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals." The production of cultivated meat at scale is also projected to use less water and land than conventionally-produced meat and has the potential to lessen the risk of harmful bacterial contamination because it is made in a controlled environment.

After the final approval in June, three-star Michelin chef Dominique Crenn added a dish made with UPSIDE Foods' chicken to her Bar Crenn's menu, marking the first time the product was served to consumers in the US. It was also the first time that Crenn put back meat on her menu after stopping in 2018 due to concerns about how meat production was affecting the environment.

GOOD Meat's Cultivated Chicken

In March, another California-based food technology company GOOD Meat, a division of Eat Just, Inc., received a "No Questions" letter from the FDA "as part of one of the agency’s first pre-market consultations for a new kind of meat, poultry, and seafood made from cells instead of raised and slaughtered animals." The letter also signaled that the FDA accepted GOOD Meat's conclusion that its first poultry product, cultivated chicken, is safe to eat.

GOOD Meat also grows chicken meat directly from cells using cutting-edge science, technology, and world-class culinary expertise for a more sustainable future. GOOD Meat won several regulatory approvals for its cultivated chicken in Singapore in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Since its launch, the company’s chicken has been featured on menus at fine dining establishments and popular hawker stalls. Thousands of dishes, ranging from crispy strips and curries to skewers and salads, have been sold in Singapore and have received universally high marks from diners.

After receiving the final approval in the US, production started for the first batch of cultivated chicken that will be sold to celebrated restaurateur and humanitarian Chef José Andrés. Andrés, the owner of José Andrés Group, operates more than 30 restaurants across the country. He is the first chef to serve GOOD Meat's chicken when he served the meat marinated with anticucho sauce to a select group of people in his restaurant China Chilcano in Washington DC on July 4.

With these approvals to sell cultivated chicken in the US, meat production is facing a new era aimed at helping food security, eliminating animal cruelty, and reducing the environmental impacts of food production. However, food technology companies are still facing challenges to finally put their meat on consumers' plates. The meat's cost will be a huge hurdle, but so is scaling up its manufacturing. Others say that cultivated meat will end up as a niche product for rich people only. As the two products were launched this month, many questions are being asked: Would consumers buy them? Would they eat it? Is it really chicken?

Read more:

• Cultivated Chicken from GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods Receive Full Approval from USDA
• World's First-to-Market Cultivated Meat Received U.S. FDA Clearance
• Cellular Agriculture Key to Food Security, Says GlobalData

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