Upside Foods, a Berkeley, California-headquartered cultivated meat, poultry and seafood company, has obtained label approval for its cultivated chicken from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is now working with the federal agency to acquire a Grant of Inspection (GOI) for an engineering, production and innovation center, the last remaining item in the pre-market regulatory process before commercial production and sales of its cultivated chicken in the United States can begin.
The label uses the term “cell-cultivated chicken.” As a cultivated meat product grown directly from real animal cells, it is subject to the same labeling requirements as conventionally produced meat products. Upside’s chicken will bear the USDA mark of inspection on packaging after passing inspection.
“The USDA’s approval of our label marks a major step forward towards our goal of creating a more humane and sustainable food system,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, the company’s chief executive officer and founder.
After completing the next and final regulatory step, Upside’s cultivated chicken will be launched in limited quantities through select restaurant partners, starting with three-Michelin star Chef Dominique Crenn’s Bar Crenn on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.
Established as the world’s first cultivated meat enterprise in 2015, Upside Foods is the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken and duck). Made without the need to raise and slaughter animals, the products are not vegan or vegetarian.
Aiming to soon bring other consumer meat offerings to market, including sausages, nuggets, and dumplings, Upside recently received $400 million in Series C funding, increasing its valuation to over $1 billion. Among its investors are Tyson Foods, Cargill, Bill Gates, the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Future Ventures, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek and Threshold.
