Lab grown chicken has got US FDA approval. It is a major milestone for the company Upside Foods which made it from harvested cells of live animals.
Meat, chicken and its environmental impact
Meats and chicken foods are delicious with a lot of protein. If eaten in moderation, they are good for the body and can help build and repair muscles. They provide essential macronutrients to the body.
But rearing animals and livestock for consumption purposes has some adverse effects on the environment. It increases carbon emissions and water consumption. Land is used up for growing food for these animals. Hence, in the long run, natural meat production can have a negative effect on the planet and climate.
Lab grown chicken (Source: BBC)But this is set to change due to the innovations in this field. Some companies are experimenting with the idea of growing chicken in labs. This would free up land for nature and also save on water and reduce carbon footprint. Scientists state that pressures on our planet would decrease by 80% with such foods as compared to the typical European diet.
Lab grown chicken and the approval from US FDA
Cultured meat is predicted to form a major chunk of the meat market in the future. Several startup companies began work on it. Eat Just is a close rival of Upside Foods. This firm got the first approval to manufacture lab grown clean meat in Singapore in the year 2020. It manufactures nuggets from animal muscle cells in the laboratory.
Upside Foods (Source: Wikipedia)Two other companies that have the biggest share in the field of artificial meat are Israel-based Future Meat Technologies and Impossible Foods. The latter launched in 2016 its plant-based burger and this has gained a lot of popularity. It co-partnered with Burger King to create Impossible Whoppers that are on the menus of the food outlets in the USA. And now the approval to Upside Foods’ lab grown chicken is a great impetus in this direction.
More on the approval
Upside Foods makes the chicken in its lab in steel tanks using cells that they harvested from live animals. And now the USA FDA has given it the green signal after careful evaluation on safety. The firm’s founder and chief executive Uma Valeti tweeted:
“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. UPSIDE has received our “No Questions Letter” from the FDA. They’ve accepted our conclusion that our cultivated chicken is safe to eat, meaning UPSIDE is one step closer to being on tables everywhere. #cultivatedmeat.”
The US FDA said that at this moment there are no further questions on this product. Uma said:
“We started Upside amid a world full of sceptics, and today, we’ve made history again as the first company to receive a ‘No Questions Letter’ from the FDA for cultivated meat.”
Lab grown chicken (Source: Green Queen)Before selling to consumers, US department of agriculture will also inspect and evaluate the product. Uma calls it a watershed moment in the history of food. But there are more hurdles before the product reaches market.
Read more: Reinstating meatless Fridays and its beneficial impact on climate change!
The place of manufacture will also require local approval. Ernst van Orsouw, chief executive of Roslin Technologies – a Scottish-based food tech company remarked:
“It is very exciting to see a globally leading regulator now come to the same conclusion that cultivated meat is safe to eat,”
“The FDA has been taking a risk-based, science-based and practical approach to regulating this novel food, which can be an excellent guide for other jurisdictions as well.”