A New Window Opens for the Emerging Lab-meat Industry

Joint regulation of cell-cultured meat by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has not brought transparency to  the novel food.

To help fill that transparency gap, the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW) has announced the launch of LabMeat.com, a new website to educate the public about the technology behind lab-grown meat, which is also known as cell-cultured meat. 

In announcing the new website,  CEW’s statement said it marks the beginning of a sustained education campaign to address consumer concerns surrounding this product. 

The website explains how the new industry uses “immortalized cells,” growth factors, and other chemicals in production. The campaign includes an animated educational video that walks viewers through how lab-grown meat is manufactured and highlights the lack of long-term health studies. 

A year ago, the FDA said that cultivated meat produced by Upside Foods is safe.  The San Francisco start-up exists to produce meat by replicating animal cells.  FDA Commissioner Robert Califf called it a “food revolution.”

This past June, USDA chimed in with its approvals for cell-cultivated meat by Upside Foods and Good Meat. USDA’s approval means the products can be sold nationwide.

FDA said the agency reviewed more than 100 pages of documentation from Upside Foods to Finnish its pre-market consultation and left no further questions.

More than 80 companies are in the cultivated meat business, and all will have to go through the joint FDA/USDA line for regulatory approvals.

Cell-grown meat has not been reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which has a novel food application process that is likely more stringent than the FDA/USDA.