The FDA has helped Upside Foods take a step closer to marketing lab-grown alternative chicken, issuing a statement of non-objection Nov. 16 to the process Upside uses.
The FDA stated that, after evaluating information from Upside about its cultured meat process, it “has no further questions at this time about the firm’s safety conclusion.” The agency noted that Upside’s production facility still needs to pass FDA and USDA requirements, and that the product itself will need a USDA stamp.
Upside, based in Berkeley, Calif., has been operating in the cultured meat space since 2015. It claims to have come up with the world’s first cultured meatball in 2016 and the first cultured chicken and duck in 2017.
"This is a watershed moment in the history of food," said Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of UPSIDE Foods, said in a statement. "This milestone marks a major step towards a new era in meat production, and I'm thrilled that U.S. consumers will soon have the chance to eat delicious meat that's grown directly from animal cells."
