According to agency documents released on Tuesday, GOOD Meat, a California-based cultivated meat company, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bring its lab-grown chicken to market.
Several companies are trying to bring cultivated meat to market in the United States, and must get approval from both the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture before they can sell their products.
GOOD Meat's chicken is the second cultivated meat product to receive a no-questions letter from the FDA after California-based UPSIDE Foods received the regulator's approval for its cultivated chicken breast last November. The FDA accepts the company's conclusion that its product is safe for humans to eat.
The agency said in a March 20 letter to the company that there was no question regarding GOOD Meat's conclusion that foods comprised of or containing cultured chicken cell material are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods.
GOOD Meat plans to sell its product at restaurants owned by chef Jos Andr s, known for his work on global food security. Since 2020, the company has been selling chicken on a small scale in Singapore.
Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat, said that I am so proud to bring this new way of making meat to my country and to do it with a hero of mine, Chef Jos Andr s.
Cultivated meat is obtained from a small sample of animal cells that are fed nutrients and grown in steel vats before being processed into cuts of meat. Cultivated meat companies say the product provides environmental benefits because it could cut down on the 14.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions derived from livestock.