Upside Foods Gains USDA Label Approval for Cultured Chicken Product

June 15, 2023

Processor of cultivated meat, poultry and seafood needs just to obtain a Grant of Inspection from USDA in order to begin selling the product commercially.

Andy Hanacek

Upside Foods, a Berkeley, Calif.-based processor of cultivated meat, poultry and seafood, has been granted approval from the USDA for its cell-cultivated chicken, putting it one step away in the regulatory review process from beginning commercial production and sale of the product.

Having obtained the “cell-cultivated chicken” label approval, Upside is now working with USDA to obtain a Grant of Inspection (GOI) for the company’s Engineering, Production and Innovation Center (EPIC), at which point the pre-market regulatory process for its cell-cultivated chicken will be complete. In addition, after the GOI is secured, Upside’s chicken products will bear the USDA mark of inspection on the packaging.

Once Upside is able to sell its product, the company expects to launch the cultivated chicken in limited quantities through select restaurant partners, according to a company release. Upside also shared that it is continuing to work with FDA and USDA to develop and bring more consumer products to market, including sausages, nuggets and dumplings.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.