Key Takeaways:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the label and issued a grant of inspection for two food companies that make cultivated meat.
- U.S. customers may soon be able to eat cell-cultivated chicken made by GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods.
- The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posted a directive and a notice for the inspection of cell-cultivated meat and poultry products, which will provide guidance to inspection personnel on how to test and inspect these products.
As of June 21, 2023, two food companies have received a grant of
inspection from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their
cell-cultivated chicken. This means the two companies, GOOD Meat (a division of Eat Just, Inc.) and
UPSIDE Foods, are the first two
cell-cultivated meat or poultry producers to receive regulatory
clearance in the U.S. to sell their cell-cultivated food products.
The final approval also makes the U.S. the second country, after
Singapore, to fully approve the sale of cell-cultivated meat in its
national market.
The USDA approval of GOOD Meat's cultivated chicken came just
three months after the company cleared the second premarket consultation with the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), whereas UPSIDE Foods had been
waiting for the USDA action since it cleared its FDA premarket
consultation in November, 2022. For additional background, we
explained in a previous publication the regulatory pathway
for the approval of cell-cultivated meat or poultry food products.
We also provided an update on the second premarket consultation for
GOOD Meat and the recent international stance on cell-cultivated
meat in a subsequent publication.
GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods received their respective label
approvals for harvesting or processing cell-cultivated poultry from
USDA in early June. Of note, the USDA-approved label uses the term
"cell-cultivated chicken" for packaging. That same month,
GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods both received a grant of
inspection after the USDA reviewed the companies' food safety
system. Moving forward, the approved companies will be assigned
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors to inspect
their labeled products on an ongoing basis.
On the same day of the final approval for GOOD Meat and UPSIDE
Foods' products, the USDA also published a directive for FSIS inspection program
personnel (IPP) to follow when inspecting and verifying the
activities in establishments that harvest or process
cell-cultivated meat or poultry food products. FSIS also posted a
notice updating its cell-cultured meat and
poultry food product-sampling program on June 29. The notice
instructs IPP on the collection method for cell-cultivated meat and
poultry food products and the process for sending samples to the
FSIS Eastern Laboratory for microbiological, chemical residue,
speciation testing, and pathology. It also instructs Enforcement,
Investigations, and Analysis Officers on the collection method for
food contact surface and environmental swab samples at the
cell-cultivating establishments and the process for sending samples
to the FSIS Western Laboratory.
Although no other cell-cultivated meat producing companies have yet
completed a premarket consultation with the FDA, we may see more
competitors enter this market now that GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods
have paved the way with the agencies and as their cell-cultivated
chicken products make it onto tables in the U.S.
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