GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of American food technology company Eat Just Incorporated, announced today that it had received a no-questions letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This is the agency’s first pre-market consultation for a new kind of meat, poultry and seafood made from cells instead of raised and slaughtered animals.
The letter means that following a careful and rigorous evaluation, the FDA has accepted the company’s conclusion that its first poultry product, cultivated chicken, is safe to eat.
This clears a crucial step in bringing GOOD Meat to restaurants and retail in the U.S. more than two years after its historic approval and launch in Singapore. The company is now working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on necessary consents before world-renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés become the first in the country to offer GOOD Meat’s chicken to customers at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Andrés is the chef and owner of José Andrés Group, which operates more than 30 restaurants nationwide.
“Since Singapore approved GOOD Meat for sale, we knew this moment was next. I am so proud to bring this new way of making meat to my country and do it with my hero, Chef José Andrés,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just.
“The future of our planet depends on how we feed ourselves…and we are responsible for looking beyond the horizon for smarter, sustainable ways to eat. GOOD Meat is doing just that, pushing the boundary on innovative new solutions. I’m excited for everyone to taste the result,” said Andrés.
Andrés is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, television personality, and founder of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies during crises. He joined GOOD Meat’s Board of Directors in 2021 and has been a vocal proponent of leveraging innovation to build a better food system for people and the planet.
The United States joins Singapore as a global leader in creating a regulatory pathway to market for real, safe, high-quality meat produced directly from animal cells. It’s a pioneering process that, in partnership with the broader agricultural community, can help meet the growing global demand for safe, sustainable protein. Some analysts predict cultivated meat could become a USD 25 billion global industry by 2030.
Over many months, GOOD Meat’s development, manufacturing, and regulatory teams prepared extensive documentation for the FDA detailing its cultivated chicken's safety and production process. The company provided details on the identity, purity and stability of chicken cells used and a thorough description of its consistent, robust, and scalable approach, which does not require antibiotics at any stage. The submission included an in-depth safety review of the media used to grow its non-genetically modified cells.
Safety and quality validations submitted by GOOD Meat demonstrated that harvested cultivated chicken met poultry microbiological and purity standards. The cultivated chicken had microbiological levels significantly cleaner than conventional chicken. The analysis also indicated that GOOD Meat's cultivated chicken contains high protein content, a well-balanced amino acid profile and is a rich source of minerals.
