Would You Eat Chicken Grown in a Lab?

UPSIDE FOODS

NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED: Lab-grown meat could soon be on the menu at American restaurants.

The average American eats about 44 kilograms (98 pounds) of chicken each year. Soon, some of that meat might come from a lab instead of a farm! For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided that a lab-grown meat product is safe to eat. This past November, the FDA gave the green light to lab-grown chicken made by the California-based company Upside Foods.

Lab-grown meat is created using stem cells, which can turn into different types of tissue, like muscle. These cells are collected from live chickens. They’re then grown inside a container of nutrients. Cultivating meat this way harms fewer animals. It also produces fewer heat-trapping greenhouse gases compared with raising livestock on farms.

This clearance from the FDA is encouraging for companies working on similar products, including lab-grown beef, pork, and fish. Upside Foods still needs approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture before its lab-grown chicken can make it to your plate.

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