Upside Foods receives USDA label approval for ‘cell-farmed chicken’

A new way to produce meat—without slaughtering billions of animals annually—is one step closer to regulatory approval in the United States. California-based company Upside Foods makes cultured meat using small amounts of cells that turn into real meat without the need to slaughter animals. Thus meat production has many ups and downs including reducing the environmental impact of meat production.

Today, Upside Foods announced that on June 12, it received label approval from the US Department of Agriculture for its farm-raised chicken. USDA-approved labels use the term “cell-farmed chicken.”

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“The USDA’s approval of our label is a major step toward creating a more humane and sustainable food system,” Uma Valletti, MD, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, said in a statement.

The USDA is one of two government agencies, the other being the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), responsible for issuing regulatory approvals for farmed meats. This week’s USDA label approval follows another historic milestone set by Upside last November when it received a Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) letter from the FDA, deeming its farmed chicken filets safe for consumption in the United States.

To reach consumers, Upside’s farmed chickens need a final approval from the USDA, a grant of inspection (GOI) of its production plant—called the Engineering, Production and Innovation Center “EPIC”—in Emeryville, CA.

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The GOI inspection, the timeline of which is currently unknown, is required to ensure that EPIC meets federal operating requirements for meat and poultry facilities. Once received, Upside will proudly display the same USDA inspection mark as traditional meat producers.

“We are excited to continue working with USDA to achieve our next milestone: a GOI for our facility,” Valletti said. “The USDA’s receipt of the GOI will clear the way for commercial production and sales and allow us to bring our delicious UPSIDE chicken to consumers for the first time.”

Farmed meat road to regulatory approval

Today’s announcement is the latest step in changing the way meat is made for everyone’s benefit. The first company in the world to receive regulatory approval for its farmed meat was Upside’s Northern California neighbor Eat Just. In late 2020, the Food Authority of Singapore granted regulatory approval to Eat Just’s subsidiary Good Meat for its farm-raised chicken bites.

Good Meats Chicken has since evolved into new formats and launched on menus across Singapore. The company is also working to expand its operations, where in the US it has signed a multi-year exclusive contract with bioprocess equipment innovator ABEC, Inc to design, manufacture, install and commission the world’s largest bioreactor. Once operational, Good Meat plans to produce 30 million pounds of meat annually without slaughtering a single animal.

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Stateside, Good Meat also earned a GRAS letter from the FDA in March deeming its farm-raised chicken safe to eat. This month, Good Meat shared on LinkedIn that Sarah Begg—the USDA’s undersecretary for research, education and economics—toured California facilities and tasted its farmed meat.

Good Meat earlier this month received USDA label approval for its farm-raised chicken, making it the first company to clear that regulatory approval, but was not planning to announce the milestone until it received the GOI, which is currently underway.

“Good Meat received our label approval on June 8 and we have begun work on that and the FDA’s formal grant of inspection prior to the ‘no question’ letter,” Andrew Noyes, vice president, global communications and public affairs, told VegNews.

“The USDA district office has been familiar with our processes and products and their staff has been cooperative throughout the process,” Noyes said.

Where you will get the taste of farmed chicken

Valletti—a cardiologist—founded Upside in 2015 with a clear mission: to change the way meat is produced for good. With this week’s announcement of USDA label approval, Upside is well on its way to making that goal a reality.

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How will consumers first taste Upside’s farmed chicken once USDA final approval is made? The company’s road to market will begin in select restaurants starting with Bar Crane in San Francisco, owned by three-Michelin star chef Dominique Crane—who joined the company in 2021 as its first chef partner.

“When I tasted Upside Chicken for the first time, I thought, this is it,” Crane said in a statement at the time. This is the future of food. The look, the smell and the crunch – Upside Chicken is simply delicious.”

After the initial launch with Crane, Upside plans to expand its farm-raised chicken to other restaurants and eventually grocery stores. Upside is working with the FDA and USDA to bring the sausages, nuggets and dumplings—all made without slaughtering animals—to market.

Good Meat counts Jose Andrés as a board member and plans to serve its farmed meat at one of its US restaurants once the humane chef receives final regulatory approval.

Both Good Meat (through its sister company Eat Just) and Upside Foods are members of the Alliance for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), an alliance aimed at advancing the cellular agriculture industry. Together with AMPS, the companies will advance a more sustainable global food system, produced without the need for animal slaughter.