U.S Approves Sales Of The Nation’s First “Lab-Grown Meat”

United States approves the sale of lab-grown meat also known as cultivated meat. On Wednesday, the two companies that make this cultivated meat, Upside Foods, and Good Meat announced that they have gotten approval from the US Department of Agriculture to start selling the cultivated proteins. This approval was gotten months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration certified that foods from these two companies are great to feed on.

These lab-grown meats are produced in steel tanks with cells from a fertilized egg or a living animal that are likely to taste very good and reproduce quickly. Once these cells are picked, they are mixed with mixtures of amino acids, fatty acids, salt, and other elements cells need to grow. Upside Foods produces them in large sheets that are then formed into regular meat produce shapes. Good Meat has already started sales of its product in Singapore and he calls it “meat without slaughter”. Good Meats also produce in large masses and are shaped to form shredded meat, chicken cutlets, and satays.

These products are not likely to be found in U.S. grocery stores anytime soon because it is more expensive than locally bred chicken meat and cannot be produced on a large scale like traditional chicken. Also, the producers want this chicken product to reach a wider range of people in the U.S. and so Upside Foods is planning to introduce this chicken to a San Francisco restaurant, Bar Crenn, and get feedback from both the chefs and diners at the restaurant. Upside is also organizing a contest to allow customers to satisfy their curiosity about the taste of the product. Subsequently, Upside plans to partner with other restaurants and companies to make it readily available and enhance sales of the product. Good Meat also plans to partner with a restaurant in Washington D.C. owned by chef Jose Andres.

Cultivated chicken has been met with a lot of reactions. The company officials say that some people who have had tastes are sold out on the taste as they maintain that it tastes just the same as a traditionally grown chicken. They also say that when these tasters hear about how hygienic the growth process is, they are more impressed. A cell-based food specialist, Sebastian Bon thinks it would take up to seven years before these meat products would be widely accepted. Some other food critics think this lab-grown meat would be accepted because traditional meat production is damaging to the planet. Supporters of lab-grown meat hope it would improve climate changes in the coming time.