GOOD Meat, a company which produces poultry, meat, and seafood sourced from cell cultures, became the second cell-based meat manufacturer to receive the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a pre-market consultation. The positive remark from the agency on the company’s cultured chicken represents another major foothold in the race to market for cultured meat.
 
The company closely follows Upside Foods, which was the first company to engage in pre-market consultation with the agency.
 
Several cultured meat companies are seeking to bring products to market, with some success in other countries. GOOD Meat, for instance, began small-scale operation and sales in Singapore over two years ago. Manufacturers typically start with a sample of cells from the tissue of an animal, which doesn’t cause harm or death to that animal. Cells are then grown in sterile bioreactors with protein growth factors and additional nutrients.
 
While voluntary pre-market consultation is not a formal approval process, FDA implied that it has no objections to GOOD Meat’s products. The agency declared that it had no further questions about GOOD Meat’s own conclusion that its product was safe, based on the data it shared. The pre-market consultation included an evaluation of the firm’s production process, such as the identity, purity, and stability of the non-GMO chicken cells used, as well as the media used to grow the cells, and a process which doesn’t require antibiotics at any stage.
 
The safety evaluations found that harvested cultivated chicken met poultry microbiological and purity standards, with levels significantly cleaner than conventional chicken, the company reports.
 
For both GOOD Meat and Upside Foods, approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is still required. Both the food itself and the manufacturing site will each need to achieve inspection from the USDA before the food can enter the U.S. market, as is the case with any other food.
 
“As this product comes closer to entering the U.S. market, we are closely coordinating with USDA-FSIS to ensure it is properly regulated and labeled,” FDA announced. “The FDA is ready to work with additional firms that are developing cultured animal cell food and production processes to ensure their food is considered safe and lawful under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. We encourage firms to engage with us often and early in their product and process development phase, well ahead of making any submissions to the agency. The FDA will issue guidance to assist firms that intend to produce human food made from cultured animal cells prepare for pre-market consultations, and the published draft of this guidance will represent a formal opportunity for public comment and discussion.”
 
Pending USDA approval, José Andrés, chef, founder of World Central Kitchen, and owner of the José Andrés Group which operates 30 restaurants across the country, will become the first chef in the country to offer GOOD Meat’s chicken to customers, at a restaurant in Washington D.C.
 
“Since Singapore approved GOOD Meat for sale, we knew this moment was next,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and parent company Eat Just. “I am so proud to bring this new way of making meat to my country and to do it with a hero of mine, Chef José Andrés.”
 
“The future of our planet depends on how we feed ourselves, and we have a responsibility to look beyond the horizon for smarter, sustainable ways to eat,” Andrés said. “GOOD Meat is doing just that, pushing the boundary on innovative new solutions, and I’m excited for everyone to taste the result.”  
 
Andrés joined GOOD Meat’s board of directors in 2021, and has been a vocal proponent for systemic and sustainable changes to the food system for people and the planet, according to GOOD Meat.