Lab-grown meat, made from chicken cells cultured in steel tanks, can now be produced and sold in the U.S. for the first time.
Two California-based companies — Upside Foods and Good Meat, a subsidiary of Eat Just — became the first in the nation to get approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to produce and sell lab-grown chicken products, The Washington Post reported. Joinn Biologics, a manufacturing partner of Good Meat, also received approval to cultivate the meat.
The process of making lab-grown meat, also called “cultured” or “cultivated” meat, begins with sampling cells from the tissues of a living animal, according to the USDA. Collecting the cells “typically does not permanently harm or kill the animal,” the department notes. The cells are then screened and stored in a cell bank. Cells are later collected from the bank and moved to large, enclosed vessels — often steel tanks, according to The Associated Press.
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