Synthetic meat, the first green light arrives in the United States

There synthetic meatalso known as “cultured meat”, first obtained the green light in the United States. The decision of the Food and Drug Administration (Fda)the US government agency that regulates food and drug products, soon causes a company to call Upside Foods will be able to sell chicken made from real animal cells, grown inside bioreactors, therefore without the need to slaughter live animals.

For some time in the United States, approval by the FDA was seen as the next major milestone for the synthetic meat industry. In recent years, startups in the sector have built plants of small-scale production and raised billions of dollars in venture capital funding, but failed to sell their products to the public. So far, the few people invited to taste the synthetic meat have had to sign a release form stating that they were aware that the products were still experimental.

The bureaucratic process

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In the country now only two minor regulatory steps are missing before cultured meat can be made available to the public. Upside Foods’ manufacturing facilities are required to pass an inspection by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and before it can enter the US market, the company’s foods must receive an inspection.label certifying that the inspection has taken place. These two phases are likely to be completed much faster than the lengthy consultation process that led to FDA approval.

“It’s the moment we’ve been working towards for the past seven years – says Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside Foods -. Open up the US market it’s what every company in the world is trying to do“.

At present, various startups in the sector are focusing on a number of different synthetic meats, including beef, chicken, salmon and tuna. Even though the FDA clearance only covers Upside Foods and the company’s synthetic chicken, it is probable that more green light will arrive soon. The US agency has approved the company’s products through a process called Generally recognized as safe (Gras, “generally recognized as safe”), through which food companies communicate the details of their production process to the FDA; once it is satisfied that the process in question is safe, the FDA sends a letter stating that it has no “further questions“.

The road to the general public

The FDA decision means that synthetic meat products may soon be available to American audiences, although it will probably only be possible to try them in a very small number of exclusive restaurants. The star chef Dominique Crenn has already announced that it will serve Upside Foods’ cultured chicken at its San Francisco restaurant Atelier Crenn.