Agronomics investee gets USDA label approval for lab-grown chicken

Cellular agriculture investor Agronomics announced on Friday that its investee UPSIDE Foods had become the first company in the world to receive label approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - a significant milestone for the cultivated meat industry.

The AIM-traded firm said that on 12 June, the USDA granted UPSIDE Foods label approval, allowing it to label its cell-cultivated chicken products as safe for consumption in the United States.

UPSIDE Foods was previously the first company to have its cell-cultivated products designated as safe by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as Agronomics announced on 17 November.

While UPSIDE Foods now had label approval, Agronomics said there was still one crucial step remains before the company could start selling its cell-cultivated products in the US market.

The USDA would now need to provide a grant of inspection to its production facility, confirming its compliance with the federal operating requirements for meat and poultry facilities in the United States.

“We are delighted that UPSIDE Foods successfully concluded the second of the three steps required to achieve approval for the sale of its products into the US,” said Agronomics co-founder and executive director Jim Mellon.

“This clearly indicates the positive direction of travel for our industry, and we are confident that cultivated meat products will soon be on US shelves.

“In addition, US regulations for food safety are some of the most stringent in the world, such that the decisions of the FDA and USDA pave the way for other jurisdictions across the globe to approve the sale of cellular food products.”

At 1116 BST, shares in Agronomics were up 0.93% at 10.8p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.