Lab Grown Salmon Approved for Consumption in U.S. by FDA

legalinsurrection.com

Back in 2023, when we reviewed the practicality of meat products grown from laboratory processes, a new study had just revealed that it was up to 25 times worse for the environment than real beef.

Despite the potential environmental impacts and lack of current technology to safely upscale production to meet current consumer needs, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved its sale to the public, clearing the way for two California companies to sell chicken produced from animal cells.

Now lab-grown salmon has recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), marking a significant milestone in the alternative protein industry. The approval was granted to Wildtype, a San Francisco-based cellular agriculture company, making it the first lab-grown fish to receive FDA clearance for public consumption in this country.

It’s already being sold in a Portland, Oregon restaurant.

The company made waves in the food and culinary sectors after announcing that its hero product, saku salmon, got approved in “a thorough pre-market safety consultation.”

Curious people can find the fish on the menu at Portland, Oregon, restaurant Kann — a James Beard award-winning Haitian spot by chef Gregory Gourdet.

For June, the cultured salmon will only grace the menu every Thursday night, but in July, it is slated to be a nightly offering.

What distinguishes the new product is that unlike the chicken and beef, this salmon is meant to be eaten raw.

Wildtype’s salmon is not the first lab-grown food to receive the FDA’s stamp of approval—that honor went to two companies’ cultured chicken in 2022—but this does mark the first time a lab-grown fish has earned the distinction. What makes Wildtype’s project particularly distinctive is its choice of salmon cut.

Unlike lab-grown chicken or beef, the company is creating sushi-grade “saku” cuts that are intended to be eaten raw. These uniformly cut blocks of fish are most often served as sashimi, and do not require any cook time.

To achieve this, Wildtype’s researchers first harvest living cells from Pacific salmon before transporting them for cultivation. In specially designed equipment, these cells are then grown in cultures with conditions similar to those in the wild fish itself.

These include fine-tuned pH levels, temperatures, nutrients, and other factors that induce the cells to develop to a point when engineers can harvest them. From there, the team integrates “a few plant-based ingredients” to help hone the flavor, texture, and appearance of wild salmon filets.

How are the chicken and beef products faring after approval? Production volumes for grown check remain low. For example, one company reports producing about 50,000 pounds annually, a small fraction of total U.S. chicken consumption.

Currently, though, the top two companies with FDA approval are cranking out small amounts of this stuff – one of them reports somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 pounds of product annually. That’s not a lot for a nation of over 350 million people.

Most of the early lab-grown meats are being put into pet food. However, keep an eye on GOOD meat and Upside Foods, two companies out of California that are pioneering this kind of innovation.

Adding to the challenges of trying to appeal to American consumers, 6 states have already banned lab grown meat.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a lab-grown meat ban into law, making Nebraska the sixth U.S. state to do so.

“Lab-grown meat will continue to face pushback as people learn more about how it is manufactured,” said Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW), one of the leading critics of lab-grown meat. “Consumers and lawmakers are understandably concerned about the lack of long-term health studies and use of immortal cells, so we expect the bipartisan opposition to lab-grown meat bans to keep picking up steam.”

Nebraska joins Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, and Indiana as the states that have enacted bans on lab-grown meat.

Additionally, Arizona and Iowa established rules requiring the labeling of these product, in terms of their laboratory origins. South Dakota passed rules this February that prohibit the use of state funds for research, production, promotion, sale, or distribution of cell-cultured protein, with some exemptions.

And while I have little desire to eat lab grown meat products, there may be benefits for those who enjoy salmon rolls.



Image by perplexity.ai

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