IT'S ALIVE: Lab Cultivated Chicken Approved for Sale?

For today's horror beyond your wildest imagined horrors related news, lab grown chicken has been approved for sale in the United States. This seems to be a case of "can we do this" and not "should we do this" taken to the extent of seeking government approval for sale to consumers who will hopefully be informed of food sourcing.

So, can chicken be cultivated from cells in a lab setting in a safe enough way that it can be sold legally? Apparently, the answer is yes. Does the approval of lab grown chicken mean that it will be hitting grocery stores near you soon? In short, no. This is likely something that will take years to develop and likely longer to figure out packaging such that consumers are properly informed of what it is that they are buying.

In June of this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved two California based start-ups to sell their lab grown chicken (also called cell cultivated chicken). To be clear, the USDA worked with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to push this approval through, so both entities that have the power to veto such sales have approved it. The final product is indistinguishable from biological chicken and would not be classified the same as the impossible burger or other plant-based meat alternatives.

So, what will the label say to distinguish cell cultivated chicken from chicken harvested from live animals? That is something that is yet to be determined and it looks like there will be a while before the proper label is determined. Currently, lab created chicken is far more expensive than natural chicken and would not be able to compete. The next step for lab cultivated meat will be scaling up and a lower cost such that it would be more affordable than natural chicken and would have a fighting chance in today's market in terms of public consumption.

There is also the matter of eggs - a product of chickens that cell cultivated chicken can't quite create. Are we looking at another egg price hike if cell cultivated chicken sells better than natural chicken? Maybe. Currently, there is no effort to create cell cultivated chicken eggs, but that may be something that also has to be considered and generated too.

Something else that should be considered is carbon footprint. Will cell cultivated chicken be less harmful to the environment than a farm once it is scaled for the masses? One of the current "selling points" is that it is less harmful for the environment when produced, however that statement is made based on a smaller scale. In terms of benefits, unlike live chicken, cell cultivated chicken does not require acres of farmland nor does it require feed or vaccinations or medicine as it cannot get sick.

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