California-based Upside Foods receives FDA approval to produce lab-grown chicken

BERKELEY, Calif. (KABC)– Would you eat lab-grown chicken?

That US Food and Drug Administration gives a Californian company the green light for a chance.

Berkeley based Upside Foods will be able to start selling its products once its facilities have been inspected by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The company says it takes cells from a single chicken to grow a cell line that will produce enough meat for years, if not decades. The process is described as similar to brewing beer, but instead of growing yeast or microbes, they grow animal cells.

It presents the concept as a more humane way of providing animal protein that is also better for the environment.

The FDA says it accepts the company’s data on the safety of its product. To date, Upside Foods is the only company to have received FDA approval for a cultured chicken product.