Cultivated meat company UPSIDE Foods announced today it had secured label approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its cultivated chicken product, according to a release sent to The Spoon. The approval comes half a year after the company became the first to get a GRAS green light for its cultivated meat from the USDA. The company becomes the second such company to receive approval after Good Meat (the cultivated meat division of Eat Just which secured their label on June 8th).
Cell-cultivated meat falls under the same USDA labeling requirements as traditional meat products, and the company’s USDA label approval shows its cultivated chicken is in full compliance with the governing agency’s pre-market labeling requirements. This means that post-inspection, UPSIDE’s chicken products will sport a USDA mark of inspection on their packaging. The USDA label will use the term “cell-cultivated chicken” to describe UPSIDE’s product to distinguish it from meat grown using traditional farming methods.
With label approval in hand, UPSIDE is working to secure the final regulatory step before the company can begin selling its cultivated meat to consumers, a Grant of Inspection (GOI) for its cultivated meat production facility, EPIC (short for Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center). Upon this final milestone, the company could move forward with commercial sales of its product. UPSIDE has previously announced it will first sell its chicken in the Bar Crenn restaurant in San Francisco. The company hasn’t indicated when it will receive its GOI but previously indicated it hopes to sell its cultivated meat to consumers this year.
With another win notched on its belt, UPSIDE continues to outpace most startups looking for US regulatory approval for its cultivated meat product. Undoubtedly, part of that success is attributable to the company’s regulatory affairs group, led by former FDA regulator (and food scientist) Eric Schulze. You can hear my conversation with Eric from 2021 on The Spoon Podcast below.
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