BONSERNEWS.com – Cell-cultured chicken meat, not from slaughtered poultry, can now be sold in the United States (US). The US Department of Agriculture has approved the sale of the product. The goal is to reduce the slaughter of animals and drastically reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming.

The US Department of Agriculture, Wednesday, June 14, 2023, for the first time approved the sale of animal cell-cultured chicken meat. The agreement allowed two companies in California: Upside Foods and Good Meat, to sell “lab-produced” meat to restaurants, and eventually to the wider public.

This move ushered in a new era of meat production and drastically reduced the environmental impact of grazing, animal feed and animal waste.

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Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just, Inc., the company that operates Good Meat, told the Associated Press (AP) News Service in October 2018, “With the world as it is now, with population growth, with pressures on water systems and the land, we need a better way. A cleaner way, a safer way. We think the idea of ​​providing meat they like without killing the animals, might be a good way to help us eat better in the future.”

In order to sell meat and poultry in the United States, companies must obtain inspection results from the federal government. Approval for the laboratory-produced meat was obtained months after the Food and Drug Administration deemed it safe to eat.

Eat Just co-founder & CEO, Josh Tetrick, is interviewed at the company’s offices in Alameda, California, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Bonsernews.com/voaindonesia.com/AP/Jeff Chiu)

Jason Hull, a chef in Marin County, tasted this homemade meat. “Tastes great. Just the right texture, and it’s not that easy to do, is it?”

Cultured meat is grown in steel tanks using cells from live animals, fertilized eggs, or special banks that hold cells.

Good Meat, which already sells cultured meat in Singapore, the first country to allow it, transforms chicken cell mass into cutlets, nuggets, shredded beef and satay.

Upside Foods and Good Meat plan to offer the new food first to exclusive restaurants. Upside partners with Bar Crenn, a restaurant in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Good Meat will be served at a restaurant in Washington, DC, managed by chef and restaurateur, Jose Andrés.

Officials at both companies confirmed that their product was real meat. Not a meat substitute made from vegetable protein and other ingredients.

Amy Chen of Upside Foods explains, “So the meat we have loved and eaten for tens of thousands of years is actually biologically the same as the meat we have cultivated. But made in a whole new way.”

Chef Zach Tyndall prepares Good Meat-raised chicken at the Eat Just office in Alameda, California, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Bonsernews.com/voaindonesia.com/AP/Jeff Chiu)

Globally, more than 150 companies are focusing on cell meat, not just chicken but also pork, lamb, fish and beef, which scientists say has the greatest impact on the environment.

Upside Foods and Good Meat both emphasized that their initial production would be limited. Upside is now capable of producing up to 50,000 pounds of meat per year. They will increase production to 400,000 pounds or more than 181 thousand kg per year. Good Meat does not set production targets.

By comparison, America produces about 50 billion pounds or 22.679 million chicken meat annually. (s/f)/Associated Press/voaindonesia.com. ()