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WASHINGTON – For the first time, US regulators approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells on Wednesday, allowing two Californian companies to supply “laboratory” meat to the nation’s dining tables and eventually supermarket shelves.
The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat, the companies that were racing to become the first in America to sell meat that doesn’t come from slaughtered animals — now that “cell-produced” or so-called “cultured” meat leaves the lab and reaches dinner plates.
The move ushers in a new era of meat production that aims to eliminate harm to animals and drastically reduce the environmental impact of grazing, animal feed and animal waste.
“We can do it differently than all that land and all that water that’s used to feed these animals,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just Good Meat.
The companies have received approval for federal inspection to sell meat and poultry in the US, a move months after the US Food and Drug Administration deemed both companies’ products safe to eat. Join Biologics, a manufacturing company that works with Good Meat, has also been tapped to make the product.
Processed meat is grown in steel tanks, using cells from animals, fertilized eggs or a special bank of stored cells. In the second case, it comes out in large sheets given as chicken cutters and plates. Already the first country to allow Singapore-grown meat to sell fine meat, it turns chicken cells into chunks, nuggets, minced meat and satays.
But don’t look for this novel meat in American grocery stores anytime soon. According to Ricardo San Martin, director of the Alt:Meat Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, processed chicken is more expensive than whole, farmed poultry and cannot be produced at the scale of traditional meat.
The companies plan to offer the new cuisine at specialty restaurants: Upside Bar is partnering with San Francisco restaurant Crane, while fine steaks are offered in Washington, D.C., restaurants run by chef and owner Jose Andres.
Company officials are quick to point out that the products are meat, not the likes of Impossible Burger or offerings from Beyond Meat, made from plant proteins and other ingredients.
Globally, more than 150 companies focus not only on cell-free meat, chicken, but also on pork, lamb, fish and beef, which scientists say is the largest environmental concern.
Upward, based in Berkeley, operates a 70,000-square-foot building in nearby Emeryville. On a recent Tuesday, chef Jess Weaver walked into a gleaming commercial kitchen where a marinated chicken filet was simmering in a white wine butter sauce with tomatoes, capers and green onions.
The finished chicken breast product was a bit paler than the grocery store version. Otherwise, it looks, cooks, smells and tastes like any other pot roast chicken.
“The most common response we get is, ‘Oh, it looks like chicken,'” says Amy Chen, Upside’s chief operating officer.
‘Ike Factor’
Fine Meats in Alameda operates a 100,000-square-foot plant, where Chef Tyndall cooks up a smoked chicken salad on a sunny June afternoon. Chicken “thighs” followed by potatoes on a clean bed of mushroom-vegetable demi-glace and tiny purple flowers. Good meat chicken products come pre-packaged, requiring only heating for use in a variety of dishes.
Chen admits that many consumers are skeptical about eating chicken grown from cells.
We call it the “Ike Factor,” she said.
The idea was echoed in a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Half of US adults say they are unlikely to try meat grown using animal cells. When asked to choose from a list of reasons for not trying, the majority of those who said they wouldn’t try it said “it just seems too weird.” About half said they didn’t think it would be safe.
But once people understand how the meat is made, they are more accepting, Chen said. And once you taste them, they’re usually sold.
“It’s the meat you’ve always known and loved,” she said.
Processed meat starts with cells. Transplantation experts take cells from living animals, selecting those that taste good and can reproduce quickly and consistently, creating high-quality meat, Chen said. Good meat products are produced from a master cell bank derived from a commercially available chicken cell line.
Once the cell lines are selected, they are mixed with a broth-like mixture that includes amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, salts, vitamins, and other nutrients the cells need to grow. In the reservoirs, which are called farmers, cells grow and spread rapidly. On the upside, muscle and connective tissue cells grow together, forming large sheets. After about three weeks, the chicken cells are removed from the tanks and made into cutlets, sausages or other foods. Good meat cells grow into large aggregates, which are formed into different types of meat products.
Both companies have emphasized that the initial production will be limited. The Emeryville facility can produce up to 50,000 pounds of meat products annually, though the goal is to expand to 400,000 pounds annually, Upside officials said. Good meat officials don’t estimate production goals.
By comparison, the US produces 50 billion pounds of chicken annually.
It could take seven to 10 years before consumers see the products in many restaurants and before they enter the wider market, said Sebastian Bohn, a specialist in cell-based food at a Missouri company that designs and builds pharmaceutical facilities, biotech and food companies.
Cost will be another sticking point. Since the companies started offering demonstrations, officials of both Flipped and Fine Meat would not disclose the price of a piece of chicken, saying it was only reduced by larger orders. Eventually, the price is expected to mirror that of high-end organic chicken, which sells for up to $20 a pound.
San Martín says he worries that processed meat could become an alternative to traditional meat for the wealthy, but if it remains a premium product, it won’t do much good for the environment.
“If some high class or rich people want to eat this instead of chicken, that’s fine,” he said. “You mean you eat chicken for the poor? I really don’t see it.”
Tetrick said he shares critics of the challenges in producing affordable and innovative meat products for the world. But traditional meat production is so damaging to the planet that it needs an alternative – especially one that doesn’t want to give up meat altogether.
“I miss meat,” said Tetrick, who grew up eating chicken wings and barbecue in Alabama. “There must be a different way for people to enjoy chicken and beef and pork with their families.”
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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