The FDA in the United States has just approved lab-grown chicken. Once approved by the USDA, which will be soon, this chicken will be marketed in America. In Canada, few agribusiness groups take this science seriously. But they should.
We knew it would happen sooner or later, but that time has come. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just authorized the sale of American-grown chicken, a product of Upside Foods, a start-up company based in San Francisco. The company produces meat from animal cells. The product is not yet approved for retail sale. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Food Safety and Inspection Service must also approve it. But everyone expects approval in the next few months. This means that the day is approaching when we will see laboratory chicken on the market.
The production process is not so complex. Collecting stem cells from a live chicken or a fertilized egg is the first step. The cells are then fed in a laboratory, much like animals are fed with amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, trace elements, salts and vitamins. The main distinction between feeding a living animal and feeding cells is found in the size of the food components; that is all. While the chicken is fed corn, the cells are fed microscopic carbohydrates and proteins.
The products are then placed in a cultivator to reproduce a greater number of cells. After three weeks, the product is ready for packaging, shipping, sale and consumption.
Without slaughtering animals, the product can be made to meet different tastes and nutritional needs. We can grow wings, thighs or breasts, depending on market demand, and limit waste.
Those who condemn these products as fake meat don’t understand the science behind cultured meat. Unlike traditional methods, cells are simply replicated in a clean and hygienic laboratory environment, which has significant advantages.
The cost of producing a kilo of chicken in a laboratory is not disclosed. One thing is certain, producing a kilo of chicken will cost less in the laboratory than in traditional production. The shorter production cycle and the reduced likelihood of foodborne illnesses caused by intestinal pathogens are obvious advantages. Animal diseases like bird flu, which is currently costing the poultry industry and consumers a fortune, can also be prevented. Risks become much easier to contain with more sanitized production.
Hundreds of companies are currently developing lab-grown foods (chicken, beef, fish and seafood, coffee, etc.) in the United States and more than a dozen in Canada. Most of these initiatives receive their funding from investors who have virtually no experience in agriculture, and their way of thinking does not suffer from traditional biases rooted in agribusiness. They just see food differently and the industry giants can’t help but follow.
The Upside Foods story provides a good example. The company started in 2015, with financial backing from Bill Gates, Cargill, Tyson Foods and Richard Branson, among others. Whole Foods invested in it in 2020. While Tyson and Cargill are among the largest meat processors in the world, Upside Foods just acquired Cultured Decadence, a cultured seafood company, for $400 million.
If you find eating cultured meat repugnant, chances are you’re over 45. In a recent survey conducted by our lab, 27% of Canadians would try lab-grown foods. But that percentage triples among millennials and millennials, simply because they see these proteins as more sustainable and morally acceptable. It is estimated that a third of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, and some advocate different ways of producing animal protein. Additionally, the UN has warned the world of the risk of maintaining highly concentrated animal feed to prevent future pandemics. These risks remain real. We discussed this extensively during COP27 last week.
Seeing cultured chicken being sold commercially in the United States won’t be long. In Canada, however, with our quota system, poultry producers will surely have a say in the matter. But if cultured meat is marketed in Canada, unlike genetically modified salmon, hopefully it will carry proper labeling so consumers know what they are buying.