GFI Celebrates FDA Green Light for Yet Another Cultivated Meat Company

This time, the beneficiary is the company GOOD Meat, which already sells its products in Singapore, where cultivated meat was already regulated two years ago.

Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA-USA) favorably finalized its review of the safety of products from GOOD Meat. This pre-market consultation comes just months after the FDA gave the same Approval Rate for the farmed chicken UPSIDE Foods, the first cultivated meat product to achieve this milestone in the U.S. The FDA’s rigorous review and unquestioned approval corroborate ongoing research into the safety of cultivated meat products. 

The process until the product is released for commercialization still has a few more steps that involve other agencies, but this news is an important historical move that demonstrates that the path will continue to open so that consumers can access these products in restaurants and retail in the USA. 

This second approval indicates that the products are reaching the market without raising doubts about their safety (both in terms of production methods and the final product), which could serve as inspiration for other regulators, as no one would like to see their country falling behind in technology.

“We are thrilled to see that GOOD Meat’s cultured chicken – which has been enjoyed by thousands of customers in Singapore over the past few years – is now on track to expand to the U.S. Amidst growing food demand and dwindling natural resources, it has never been more urgent to increase the production and distribution of alternative proteins on both sides of the Pacific. This week’s FDA green light opens the door for regulatory and scientific collaboration between two of the world’s leading innovation hubs (the U.S. and Singapore) and takes cultivated meat one step closer to becoming a truly global business.”, Mirte Gosker, Managing Director of The Good Food Institute APAC.

“Today’s news is more than just another regulatory decision – it’s food system transformation in action. Consumers and future generations deserve to eat the food they want, but made more sustainably, preserving our land and water, protecting our climate and global health, and ensuring food security.” Bruce Friedrich, president of The Good Food Institute.

“This positive signal from the FDA regarding the production process of cultivated meat can be seen as a move by the United States to position itself at the forefront of an industry that is expected to generate billions of dollars in the coming decades and revolutionize the way humanity eats. Brazilian public agents need to pay attention and speed up the regulatory process here too, so that Brazil does not fall behind and consolidates itself as soon as possible as one of the main players in this emerging global market." Alysson Soares, Public Policy Specialist at GFI Brazil.

For more information, see: What the FDA Evaluated During the First Completed Pre-Market Consultation

What is cultivated meat and how is it produced?

Cultivated meat is animal meat produced from the cultivation of animal cells. Cell cultivation is carried out by reproducing the biological process that occurs within animals and the resulting cultivated meat is composed of the same cell types that are part of animal muscle tissue, so it can reproduce the sensory and nutritional profile of beef, chicken, seafood or other conventionally produced meat products. From a single cell, successive multiplications in bioreactors and subsequent differentiation and maturation, it is possible to produce meat on an industrial scale. To learn more about this technology, consult our resources.

Supporting material/Sources:

• FDA Spurs Innovation for Human Food from Animal Cell Culture Technology | FDA
• What the FDA Evaluated During the First Completed Pre-Market Consultation
• PREMARKET NOTICE FOR INTEGRAL TISSUE CULTURED
• Memorandum