GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of Eat Just, Inc., has received a “no questions” letter from the FDA for its first poultry product, cultivated chicken. The letter indicates that the FDA has evaluated and accepted the company’s conclusion that its chicken is safe for consumption. As a result, the company is now working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for necessary approvals before offering its chicken to customers at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. The restaurant belongs to the world-renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés, who is the chef/owner of José Andrés Group, which operates over 30 restaurants across the United States.
The company won several regulatory approvals for its chicken in Singapore, and it remains the only cultivated meat producer in the world with the ability to sell to consumers. According to consumer research conducted by a leading global management consulting firm on behalf of GOOD Meat, 70% of Singaporeans who tried its cultivated chicken said it tasted better than conventional chicken. Furthermore, almost 90% of those diners said they would substitute conventional chicken with cultivated chicken. “Since Singapore approved GOOD Meat for sale, we knew this moment was next. I am so proud to bring this new way of making meat to my country and do it with my hero, Chef José Andrés,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat.
Lab-Grown Meat Production Carries Potential Climate and Safety Risks, Research Finds
According to a study from the University of Oxford, there is a risk of negative long-term climate impact if current livestock systems are replaced with lab-grown meat production before energy generation is decarbonized. Lab-cultured “meat” production involves extracting animal cells from living animals through a biopsy and growing them in a growth medium. Initially, fetal bovine serum (FBS) was used as a growth medium in lab-cultured meat production. However, producing FBS involves extracting blood from the fetus of a pregnant cow when the cow is slaughtered. There are also uncertainties over potential safety issues associated with lab-cultured meat, such as the safety of ingesting rapidly growing genetically-modified cell lines and contamination. In addition, cells do not have a fully functioning immune system, so there is a high likelihood of bacterial or fungal growth and other human pathogens growing in vats of cells.
A research team from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research has found that stem cell lines often acquire mutations in the TP53 (p53) gene responsible for controlling cell growth and division as they grow in a lab environment. Contamination is also a significant issue associated with lab-cultured meat production methods using cell lines and culture mediums. While lab-cultured meat companies claim that this type of production would be more sterile than traditional animal agriculture, it is uncertain how that would be true without using antibiotics or other pharmaceutical means of pathogenic control. Further research must confirm or dispel these uncertainties over potential safety issues.
Image provided by GOOD Meat
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