Dive briefs:
- eat Implicit approval from FDA For US consumption of farmed poultry. FDA’s letter without questions This means the regulatory body accepts the company’s conclusion that Good Meat brand farmed chicken is safe to eat.
- Once Eat Just’s Good Meat chicken receives its second round of regulatory approval (the USDA must approve Eat Just’s facility and inspect the meat it produces), the farmed chicken will become a director and director of Eat Just. Served at chef-owned and operated restaurants in Washington, DC. Jose Andres.
- Eatjust is the only company in the world that can sell cultured meat. Good Meat Chicken was the first to receive regulatory approval in Singapore in 2020. The United States is her second country to move forward with regulatory approval for farmed meat, issuing a No Her Question Letter to Upside Foods’ farmed chicken in November.
Dive Insight:
More than two years after launching Good Meat in Singapore, Eat Just is close to offering cultured meat in its home country.
“Since Singapore approved the sale of GOOD Meat, we knew this moment was next,” Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick said in a written statement. “I am very proud to bring this new way of making meat to my country and to work with my hero, Chef Jose Andrés.”
Formerly known as Hampton Creek, Eat Just began in 2011 by manufacturing plant-based seasonings and dressings. The company entered the cultivated meat field in 2017, using animal cells to grow meat in bioreactors. The company also has a division that makes Just Egg, the leader in plant-based eggs.
Eat Just has been working with FDA regulators in premarket discussions for several years. His Vítor Espirito Santo, senior director of Eat Just’s cellular agriculture division, said in an interview that the question-free letter is the conclusion of his process of years of in-depth review.
“Singapore approval was a huge deal, but there is no denying that US and FDA approval is what we have been waiting for. [to] I think it’s been a big game changer for the industry over the years,” he said. “We have two countries now. Hopefully this continues to happen in more and more jurisdictions, making farmed meat a reality all over the world.”
The FDA’s No Question Letter is not the end of the Eat Just Good Meat regulatory process. This is issued after careful research to ensure that chicken cells, the processes used to grow them, the culture media used to feed the cells, and the resulting products are safe for consumption. it was done.
“At this time, there is no question about GOOD Meat’s conclusion that food consists of or contains cultured chicken cell material resulting from the manufacturing process defined in . [Eat Just’s application] It is as safe as equivalent foods produced by other methods. ” letter without questions read.
USDA regulators will work on the following approval processes: USDA is Meat products are safe at harvestEat Just has been in touch with USDA regulators for years, Santo said.
Eat Just has been serving farmed chicken in Singapore for more than two years, so Santo said it has a lot of real safety data to share with the FDA. He said the process in the US is very similar to the process the company experienced in Singapore.
The FDA milestone was celebrated by some of the biggest names in the food industry.
Bruce Friedrich, president of the Good Food Institute, an international alternative protein think tank, said the news was more than just a regulatory decision, it was an actual transformation of the food system. And cultured meat has the potential to provide people with the animal protein they love, with a much lower environmental impact.
“Several governments around the world have begun prioritizing alternative proteins as a solution to meet national climate and development goals while meeting growing consumer demand,” Friedrich said in a statement. but more governments should follow suit.
Former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, a member of the Good Meat Advisory Board, said in a statement: We offer stewardship in new and exciting ways. ”
Mr Santo said the chicken products, which received the no-questions-asked letter, and how they are grown are very similar to those first approved in Singapore. Eat Just has developed a completely plant-based serum to grow their cells, but the FDA-scrutinized cell growth medium contains fetal bovine serum. The decision reflects Singapore’s long track record of safety data for this medium, and the company hopes to be able to add approval for plant-based media in the near future.
Eat Just is working toward full regulatory approval in the US, but that’s not the only pending effort in the company’s cultivated meat division. The company is expanding its production facility in Singapore and recently 6,000 liter bioreactor There. This is done in a demonstration-scale facility at our corporate headquarters in Alameda, California. A commercial-scale facility is currently under construction in the United States, and biotechnology process engineering company ABEC is building ten of his 250,000-liter bioreactors.
EatJust is also working on early regulatory review processes for Good Meat Chicken in several other countries, Santo said.
“FDA approval can certainly help those discussions,” he said. “This is a reputable institution that many other countries are following in their jurisdictions, so crossing the finish line here is very significant.
