GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of food technology company Eat Just, Inc., has just become the second company to receive a “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, clearing a crucial step in bringing GOOD Meat to restaurants and retail in the U.S. The California-based company is currently the only producer in the world with the ability to sell cultivated meat to consumers following regulatory approval of the product in Singapore more than two years ago.
UPSIDE Foods, another California-based food tech company, was the first to receive the green light from the FDA for cultivated meat, a monumental approval that opened the gates for this and future approvals. The United States government has taken several recent steps to support the future of cultivated meat including the establishment of the USDA’s National Institute for Cellular Agriculture and an executive order by the Biden administration to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing.
"This much-awaited news is here revolutionizing the way we'll eat. Eating meat but not animals marks the beginning of a new era." - Lorena Mucke, CEO and Co-Founder of the Educated Choices Program.
“Today’s news is more than just another regulatory decision – it’s food system transformation in action." - Bruce Friedrich, President of the Good Food Institute.
GOOD Meat’s cultivated chicken has been well received in Singapore, earning several awards. Consumer research found that 70% of Singaporeans who tried GOOD Meat’s cultivated chicken said it tasted as good or better than conventional chicken. Nearly 90% of those diners said they would substitute conventional chicken with cultivated chicken. The product has been featured on menus at fine dining establishments, popular hawker stalls, food delivery, and at Huber’s Butchery, one of Singapore’s premier producers and suppliers of high-quality meats.
In addition to GOOD Meat’s plant in Singapore, the company is building ten of the world’s largest bioreactors in the United States. These bioreactors are expected to be operational in 2024 and capable of supplying tens of thousands of restaurants and shops with cultivated beef and chicken each year.
Image Credit: GOOD Meat