The FDA and the USDA have approved lab-grown chicken products for sale in the US. Two companies – Upside Foods and Good Meat – have been given approval.
A CNN story states “In a nutshell, lab-grown meat — or cultivated or cell-based meat — is meat that is developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors.”
The approval letter to Upside foods did not state the FDA itself determined cultured chicken was safe for human consumption, instead the agency took a non-committal stance careful to put full responsibility to food safety on the manufacturer of these products. “Based on the safety assessment UPSIDE has conducted, it is our understanding that UPSIDE has concluded that foods comprised of or containing the cultured cellular material resulting from the production process defined in CCC 000002 are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods.”
But the FDA letter was very clear in its approval letter clarifying that label disclosure of “bioengineered material in human food” is required.
To read the FDA approval letters of these products, click here.
Will lab grown chicken be used in pet food?
With the approval of cultured chicken for human food, it could be used in pet food (when these products are available commercially). But cost is a concern that will probably prevent its use anytime soon.
But…what about the by-products of the production of lab-cultured meat?
Pet food is commonly used as a dumping ground for food waste – permitted by FDA with no disclosure to consumers. The federal regulations that require disclosure of bioengineered foods on labels is specifically for human foods, they would not apply to pet foods.
Currently, slaughter waste, dead animal disposal, brewery waste, used restaurant grease, expired food waste, and more is disposed of into pet food/animal foods with no label disclosure. These ingredients are hidden behind a generic ingredient name to prevent transparency. We are concerned that as other industries do, the cultured cell industry will see pet food as the perfect dumping ground for their by-products AND as with so many other waste ingredients the pet food consumer will not be informed.
We have sent the FDA/CVM questions regarding the by-products of this new industry, specifically asking if they have already been used in pet food or will be in the future. If the FDA provides us with any information, it will be shared.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Caninecare
June 23, 2023 at 1:08 pm
Meats, fish, poultry… all have so much crap in it – Antibiotics, Sulphites, Carbon Monoxide,Heavy Metals, Pesticides, sometimes meat glue, Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and let’s not forget about Nitrites/Nitrates as when nitrites combine with certain amino acids, N-nitroso compounds or nitrosamines are formed and these have been shown to be carcinogenic – even from a free range farm.
Also due to its high cholesterol and saturated fat content, meat consumption can lead to chronic disease.
However, lab-grown meat has the potential to reduce the negative health impacts of meat-eating. When growing meat in a lab, food scientists can actually control the quantities of harmful cholesterol and saturated fat in each cut.
Lab-grown meat can also address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance!
I’m excited for this. What I will cook for my dogs. I will never eat being vegan – but for my pets I can now purchase healthier chicken that is cruelty free. Less animals will live in and die in horrible cruel factory farms. It’s better for the earth, animals and meat eaters who will never give it up. Win Win all around. Only people who will lobby against this will be livestock farmers! They will put out fake info to try to shut it down.
Muriel Reilly
June 25, 2023 at 5:43 am
Caninecare, absolutely!
As a vegan for 45 years, this is fabulous! Though I am not interested in eating anything resembling meat any longer, to help others transition and to save our environment, this is crucial.
And if this transitions to our pet’s food, even better!
T Allen
June 30, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Well said!
Linda Kelly
June 23, 2023 at 1:11 pm
To get the cells to multiply rapidly they introduced animal cancerous cells so what about humans eating these cancer cells and what is the side effect therefore that question has no answer. It should go the way of fake meat no one wants a chemically bloated piece of lab crap pretending to meet human consumption requirements.
Xeyla
June 30, 2023 at 10:53 am
why would cancerous cells cause the meat to grow faster? Can you link studies showing this? And link any authentic articles showing this is used in the Bio-reactors?
Canine care
July 6, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Where did you read that? Please provide a link- I have not seen any such thing in my research in it
T Allen
June 30, 2023 at 3:26 pm
Please show your references when making comments like these.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-cancer-risk/is-cancer-contagious.html “You cannot “catch” cancer from someone else. Close contact or things like sex, kissing, touching, sharing meals, or breathing the same air cannot spread cancer. Cancer cells from someone with cancer are not able to live in the body of another healthy person. The immune system finds and destroys foreign cells, including cancer cells from another person.” https://www.inverse.com/article/14260-does-eating-cancer-tumors-give-you-cancer-probably-not-but-put-the-burger-down “To say that eating cancer would give you cancer is to suggest that cancer is contagious. While this is true in rare cases, it suggests, broadly, that cancer is itself a physical thing that can be “caught.” It’s not. Cancer is more of a process than a thing itself.””Cooking said mass and running it through the acid storm that is human digestion would break down its component cells into their essential parts: mostly strings of amino acids and globular fats, with some branched sugars sprinkled throughout. Where — or what — exactly, is the cancer now?” ETC,, ETC, ETC Read the article. It talks about eating tumors. You are in more danger from just eating meat, period.