The Department of Agriculture has approved cultured cultivated meat producers for the first time in the United States. With this decision, the United States will become the second country after Singapore to authorize the production and sale of lab-grown meat. Many cattle breeders and agricultural groups criticize calling the lab-grown variety "meat".

The Department of Agriculture has approved the production and sale of lab-grown meat for the first time, paving the way for two Californian companies to sell chicken produced from animal cells. Upside Foods and Good Meat, two companies that make what they call “cultivated chicken,” announced that they have received approval from the US Department of Agriculture to begin producing their cell-based protein. “This announcement that we’re now able to produce and sell cultivated meat in the United States is a major moment for our company, the industry and the food system,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Good Meat and Eat Just, said in a statement. Good Meat, owned by plant-based egg substitute producer Eat Just, said that production is beginning immediately. Cultivated or lab-grown meat is grown in a giant vat. Upside founder and CEO Uma Valeti claimed the approval “a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future,” adding that it will “fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table.” The approval follows a series of previous approvals which have paved the way for sales of cultivated meat in the US.

The decision is deemed a turning point for companies producing cell-grown meat. While supporters of cultured meat say the product will lead to better outcomes for the environment, food safety and animal welfare, critics are wary of the scientific and safety risks and say the claimed environmental benefits have not been proven. Good Meat, which has already been selling these products in Singapore, promotes its product as meat without slaughter and a more humane approach to eating meat. Supporters hope that cultured meat will help fight climate change by reducing the need for traditional animal agriculture, which emits greenhouse gases.

Lab-grown meat starts with cells taken from an animal. These cells are then fed with water, salt and nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins and minerals. The cells then multiply in large tanks called cultivators or bioreactors and when ready, the product essentially is like minced meat.

Many cattlemen and agricultural groups had opposed labeling the lab-grown variety "meat" and lobbied legislators to reserve the word. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Agriculture Department's agency charged with overseeing conditions in processing plants, continues to draft regulations on how food products derived from animal cells should be named. For now, the two California companies will call their products cell cultivated chicken which has been approved by the agency.

Upside plans to introduce its product at Bar Crenn, a San Francisco restaurant, but has not yet shared a launch date. Over time, the company plans to work with other restaurants and make its products available in supermarkets.

Bruce Friedrich, President of the Good Food Institute, warned that when cultivated meat products hit grocery store shelves, they will be expensive compared to traditional sausages and meatballs - just as renewable energy is initially more expensive than oil and natural gas.