Cultivating meat from labs is deemed to be safe by scientists yet some people are still skeptical if it's a good alternative to real animal meat.
Despite the controversies that lab-grown meats faced in the past, The Food and Drug Administration has finally given them a green light after UPSIDE Foods passed the pre-market consultation process of the agency.
With this huge step, could we see lab-grown meats in our grocery stores soon?
Lab-Grown Meat is Safe to Eat
(Photo : JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images))
A technician displays a lab-grown chicken meat in a sealed bag at the food-tech startup SuperMeat in the central Israeli town of Ness Ziona on June 18, 2021. - It looks like chicken and tastes like chicken; but diners in Israel are tucking into laboratory-grown "meat" that scientists claim is an environmentally-friendly way to feed the world's growing population.
Following the FDA's completion of the first pre-market consultation with UPSIDE, consuming cultured meat will soon be a norm for the public. This means that people could now treat this food as a healthier substitute for animal meat.
According to Gizmodo, FDA has approved UPSIDE Foods to start the production of lab-grown meats after it passed the safety claims.
The report says that it's not really an "approval process" yet this evaluation is already enough to allow the company to use animal cells to produce cultured meats.
"We have no questions at this time regarding UPSIDE's conclusion that foods comprised of or containing [its] cultured chicken cell material...are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods," the FDA penned in its update.
For many years, people are stuck between consuming real meat and its lab-grown counterpart. The very reason why many doubt it is its risk to the environment.
In fact, it's difficult to estimate its impacts on nature given that climate change and pollution are sometimes intertwined with one another.
For the most part, the companies are promoting that by using the stem cells of the animals, they avoid slaughtering more species just for human consumption.
Culturing Meat Comes With Different Risks
Without FDA's approval, the companies could not start their operations in the lab even though they treat it as a healthy process.
Often, they need to seek blessing from the agency so they could market their products right away. However, there are still federal requirements that they must first meet to begin their production.
As such, they need to consider the facility and the resources needed. It's also important to assess the company's management and awareness concerning the environmental effects of culturing meat.
The sale of lab-grown meats is not new anymore to developed countries like Singapore which first approved the rollout of genetically-modified meat to the market.
There might be some challenges that UPSIDE needs to prepare for, but in the meantime, it needs to pass the Food Safety and Inspection Service and USDA.
Still, this is a huge breakthrough in the food industry, especially for people who want to avoid a healthier alternative to other animal parts.
Related Article: Scientists Produce Lab-grown Meat With Magnetic Fields
Health Consequences of Eating Lab-Grown Meat
Consuming cultured meat might result in the dysregulation of cell lines according to News Medical. Because scientists continue to use many cells in the process, the progression of the condition could worsen over time.
Scientifically speaking, another health concern about lab-grown meat is the presence of "cancer-promoting" cell properties. In some cases, the cell could have faulty lines that can lead to other undesirable effects on the body.
Read Also: 3D Printed Meat: Lab-Based Alternative Could Unite Both Meat Lovers, Vegans--Find Out Why
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Written by Joseph Henry
