Dawn of new meat era: Lab-grown chicken on US menus soon

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday approved the sale of lab-grown chicken, according to announcements made by GOOD Meat and Upside Foods.

Cultured meat – also known as lab-grown, cell-based or cultivated protein – falls under the umbrella term “novel food technology“.

Lab-grown chicken approved

The process to create lab-grown meat involves taking stem cells from an animal’s fat or muscle tissue and nurturing them in a culture medium.

This process allows the cells to grow into a product which bears the same appearance (and even flavour) as tradition meat.

While it might sound icky, lab-grown meat has health benefits and is environmentally sustainable too.

But only in two countries

As of now, though, the US and Singapore are the only two countries that have approved the sale of lab-grown meat.

To date, Eat Just has accumulated funding of $978.5 million (about R18 billion), while Upside Foods has raked in $608.4 million, as per PitchBook data.

The US agriculture department’s approval follows the Food and Administration (FDA) endorsement of lab-grown meat back in January 2023, attesting to the safety for human consumption.

FDA approval

At the time, Bill Winders, a professor in the School of History and Sociology, explained how lab-grown meat is different from plant-based meats.

Where plant-based products are made from various plant materials, lab-grown meat is made from animal cells in closed environments called bioreactors.

Winders said scientists use carbohydrates and amino acids to make animal stem cells grow in the bioreactors. That said, it won’t change our eating habits drastically. Just yet, anyway.

Impact on meat industry

At this stage, lab-grown meat caters to a niche market of consumer and is not mainstream yet. He said it’s not likely that lab-grown meat would replace farm-raised meat anytime soon.

And as of 2020, the US still raised approximately 34 million cattle for the meat industry, along with 131 million pigs and 9 billion chickens.

In addition, the high cost of the production and the need for bioreactors capable of supporting large-scale manufacturing still proves to be a challenge.

And even without those stumbling blocks, it will take time for the novel meat industry to win over consumers and be a competitor over farm-raised meat.

READ: Lab-grown human embryo: New era of research and ethical concerns

Massive meat market

The potential for the industry is substantial. McKinsey projected that lab-grown meat could contribute as much as half of the global meat supply by 2030.

This would translate into billions of pounds of cultured meat, and a market worth approximately $25 billion (R459 billion).

As reported by CNBC, the CEO and co-found of Eat Just, Josh Tetrick, said the USDA’s approval was a “major moment” for his company and the industry as a whole.

“This announcement that we’re now able to produce and sell cultivated meat in the United States is a major moment for our company, the industry and the food system.”