The US has approved the sale of laboratory-grown chicken

US regulators approved this Wednesday for the first time production and sale of laboratory-grown chicken from animal cells, opening the door to the commercialization of lab-grown meat across the country.

Namely, the Department of Agriculture has given the green light to the companies Upside Foods and Good Meat, both from California, to undergo a federal inspection that allows the sale of meat and poultry in the US.

A few months ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already declared that the products of the two companies they are safe for consumptionalthough according to American media it may be years before consumers find this type of meat in stores.

First, the companies plan to partner with high-end restaurants to offer their products, which are much more expensive to make than traditional chicken.

Two California companies celebrated the decision and ensured that the meat produced in laboratories will help create a more sustainable food industry.

“Instead of all that land and that water being used to feed all those animals that are then slaughtered, we can do things differently,” said the CEO of Eat Just, the company that operates Good Meat.

The company’s products can already be found in Singapore, the first country to allow the sale of lab-grown meat.

Despite the novel process, which involves growing meat in steel tanks based on animal cellsthe resulting product is not a chicken substitute, like vegan plant-based alternatives, but real chicken.

According to The New York Times, there are about a hundred companies in the world that produce meat in laboratories.