Does chicken grown from cells actually taste like chicken? Americans will soon find out.
This week, the U.S. greenlighted two brands to make cell-grown chicken for consumers. The two California-based companies, UPSIDE Foods and Eat Just, Inc., received grants of inspection from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning the two brands finally achieved full approval needed to commercially produce and sell chicken grown from cells.
For years, industry pioneers and consumer advocates have pointed to the industrial poultry production scene, and have said cell-grown chicken could be a solution to help avoid disease and viruses because it is cultivated in a tightly monitored environment. While alternative proteins (as opposed to animal proteins) have been appearing more regularly on household dinner tables and at eateries in the past decade, they have all been plant-based.
The U.S. is the second country to approve cell-grown protein, after Singapore, which allowed sales in 2020. So what can you expect when you’re not eating actual chicken in your chicken dish? Here are some answers.
1. What is cell-cultivated chicken?
Though commonly referred to as “lab-grown” chicken, the official term is “cell-cultivated” chicken, and both companies say that’s a more accurate way to describe their products. The businesses, together with the industry, say the term “lab-grown” is outdated now that the USDA has approved the term “cell-cultivated” for their labels. Unlike a plant-based protein, created mostly using soy or mushrooms, cultivated chicken is grown from a chicken cell. It is part of the alternative protein family.
Technicians are able to separate a cell — from a a feather plucked from a living chicken — by cutting and submerging the skin-contacted tip in a testing tube. These cells are transferred to a culture dish, and “fed” nutrients. They are then able to grow and multiply in bioreactors that are similar to the body of a chicken — with consistent temperature and moisture.
2. Where will diners taste cell-cultivated chicken first?
Both companies have chosen chefs as partners to help bring their products to hungry masses.
Chef and restaurateur José Andrés will be the first person in the U.S. to serve GOOD Meat, the chicken product made by Eat Just, the company announced. Andrés owns more than 30 restaurants across the country and announced Friday that China Chilcano, his Chinese-Peruvian restaurant in Washington, D.C., will use the chicken meat in dishes.
UPSIDE Food announced this week that chef Dominique Crenn, co-owner and chef of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Atelier Crenn, will partner with the company to serve its products. Bar Crenn, Crenn’s wine bar in San Francisco, will be the first place to serve UPSIDE’s cultivated chicken.
3. When will cell-cultivated chicken become available to try?
UPSIDE has yet to release the date when its chicken product will be on Bar Crenn’s menu. The company’s eventual goal is to sell its products in grocery stores worldwide. Although it will only be available in a fine-dining setting at first, the company wants to distribute the cultivated meat anywhere that traditional meat is sold, an UPSIDE Food representative told MarketWatch in an email.
“We want them to be equally suitable for a Michelin-star restaurant or a backyard BBQ,” the representative said.
East Just’s spokesperson told MarketWatch that the launch timeline in the U.S. will be similar to the company’s launch in Singapore, where GOOD Meat was first available at a members-only club, and was then expanded in collaboration with local food-delivery app Foodpanda. The product is now also served at Huber’s Butchery, a meat producer and supplier in Singapore. Because of production cost constraints, an Eat Just spokesperson said the company is producing a “modest” amount. The company added it does not make any profits on the cell-grown chicken currently.
4. Will cell-cultivated chicken be affordable?
Production costs are still a concern when it comes to pricing of the cell-grown chicken. Because of that, Eat Just said it will need to tackle some remaining technical and engineering hurdles before mass production.
At the moment, Eat Just’s cultivated chicken in Singapore sells for roughly the same price as conventional chicken on the same menu, a spokesperson told MarketWatch via email.
At Huber’s Butchery, a GOOD Meat cultivated chicken sandwich with crispy fries and mixed greens is priced at SGD $18.50, the equivalent of $13.40, according to the information provided by GOOD Meat to MarketWatch. On Foodpanda, a Caesar salad made using GOOD Meat’s chicken is SGD $20 — or US $14.80, according to a video GOOD Meat posted in May 2021.
So far, cell-cultivated chicken has also been used in chicken katsu curry and chicken rice.
UPSIDE Food told MarketWatch that its product will likely be more expensive than traditional chicken for now, but added that the eventual goal is to be more affordable than traditional chicken products.
5. What does cell-cultivated chicken taste like?
People who have tasted Eat Just’s version of cultivated chicken, largely based in Singapore, say it’s a good alternative to what real chicken tastes like, according to reviews posted online.
During COP27 — the annual UN conference on climate change— CNET Senior European Correspondent Katie Collins gave it a positive review after tasting it in a three-course dinner.
Collins shared that her favorite item was the crispy chicken skin, which she described as “substantive” and having the “buttery, fatty taste you want from chicken skin.” Overall, Collins said it was better than the current processed chicken products, but was still lacking the fibrous texture of traditional chicken.
“Instead of bouncing back a little when you sink your teeth into it, it collapses too easily under pressure. Obviously, no one likes tough or rubbery chicken, but it’s lacking some resistance,” Collins wrote.
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