Quick bites from around the food safety arena this week
- Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor has outlined steps the company will take after a major outbreak of produce-related Cyclospora this past summer. Among other actions, the company announced that it is suspending the harvest and processing of iceberg lettuce from Central Mexico for sale in the United States or Canada during the Cyclospora season, which runs from May through August each year. Taylor’s statement notes that the FDA has not yet identified a definitive source of the parasitic outbreaks that made headlines all summer.
- The FDA released a 10-point plan aimed at mitigating and preventing future outbreaks of Cyclospora contamination. It will release an Outbreak Investigation Report, improve laboratory capacity in Mexico to test produce samples and collaborate with Mexican health officials to improve education and training for people working in Mexico’s fresh produce industry.
- A new CompreHensive European Food Safety (CHEFS) database is now available to EU states via the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The database includes almost 400 million analytical results from monitoring data on pesticides, veterinary medicinal product residues and chemical contaminants. Scientists who created the database through the HOLiFOOD project say it can be used to analyze trends, predict hazards and support early warning systems for food safety threats.
- Authorities in the Puglia region of Italy have suspended the sale of raw tomatoes in canteens after reports of Salmonella infections. The temporary order affects the use and serving of raw fresh tomatoes in all food preparation centers and distribution points for institutional catering.
- The American Academy of Pediatricians is calling for a nationwide ban on the sale of raw milk, and raw milk products, because of the risks that it may be contaminated with bacteria, parasites and viruses. The association says, “Evidence demonstrates the overwhelming benefits to food safety conferred by standardized pasteurization and consumption of pasteurized dairy products.”
Today’s Topic: Cultivated Meat
Eight years ago, the venture capital community was all abuzz about lab-grown meat ventures. Then the money poured in.
The Good Food Institute reported that from 2021 through 2023, cultured meat and seafood companies attracted over $2.5 billion in investment. It was likely an underestimate, as money was flowing so fast that it was hard to track.
By 2023, about half of the VC capital went to a top five that included Upside Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), Believer Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies), Wildtype, Aleph Farms, and Mosa Meat.
Sovereign wealth funds invested government money, and Tyson Foods and JBS put up profits from their cattle businesses along with traditional VC sources.
Lab-grown meat and seafood prospects were hot.
'Escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken'
The basic idea was to use stem cells harvested from a living animal, with slaughter claimed to be unnecessary. Instead, harvested cells would be introduced to a culture medium containing the necessary growth materials and placed in a bioreactor, aiming to produce a final product that looks and tastes similar to traditional meat.
Ninety-five years ago, when he was out of power and making an income from freelance writing, Sir Winston Churchill penned an essay titled “Fifty Years Hence,” in which he wrote:
"We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."
By 2021, the venture capital crowd was all but certain that the world Churchill predicted in 1931 was coming soon, with viable lab-grown meats reaching the market.
Startups see sudden setbacks
Just four years later, the cell-cultured meat story changed dramatically and unexpectedly, with companies announcing they would cease operations.
Cultivated pork maker Meatable, headquartered in the Netherlands, ceased operations after acquiring Uncommon Bio’s cultivated meat platform, which was meant to diversify its portfolio beyond pork and beef into lamb and chicken. The 2018 startup shut down in late 2025.
United Kingdom-based CellRev, short for CellulaREvolution, developed proprietary media additives for cell manufacturing, including cultivated meat, and announced it would shut down in late 2025 because it couldn’t meet commercial milestones in time to secure investment.
Three-year-old Netherlands-based Upstream Foods, which was to develop cultivated fish fat, starting with salmon, was also among the 2025 shutdowns because it couldn't raise the needed capital.
The closure with the biggest impact last year was clearly Believer Meats. It completed a $125 million manufacturing plant near Raleigh, NC, with high-tech bioreactors and centrifuges in a 200,000-square-foot facility that was set to become a world center for lab-grown chicken.
Believer Meats had the U.S. government's approval and was being treated as Raleigh’s proud new employer. Then, just two weeks later, Believer Meats lost a major financial backer and management could not obtain a last-ditch loan to save the company.
So, the startup, valued at $600 million in 2021, ceased operations before it produced anything, leaving behind an empty factory.
Venture capital turned cold on lab-grown meat pretty much for its own reasons. VC funds prefer short timelines, expecting massive returns within five to seven years. Market viability for cultivated meat isn’t expected now for at least another decade or maybe longer.
At the same time, biomanufacturing is proving costly, with bioreactors demanding expensive energy inputs and specialized nutrient solutions. These capital expenditures are massive.
The pros of cultivated meat
- Enhanced animal welfare: Because cultivated meat is grown from a small sample of animal cells, it eliminates the need for intensive factory farming and mass animal slaughter.
- Reduced public health risks: Production takes place in a sterile, controlled environment. This drastically minimizes the risk of foodborne pathogens like Salmonella or E. coli, eliminates the need for agricultural antibiotics, and prevents the spread of zoonotic diseases.
- Resource efficiency: Cell cultivation requires significantly less land and water than traditional livestock grazing and feed production.
- Tailored nutrition: Scientists can manipulate the meat's nutrient profile during growth, such as engineering it to have lower saturated fats or higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.
The cons of cultivated meat
- High production costs: The specialized equipment, nutrient-rich media, and bioreactors required make scaling up highly expensive. Initial market rollouts are usually restricted to high-end restaurants.
- Massive energy consumption: While lab-grown meat cuts down on methane from livestock, the factories require substantial electricity. If powered by fossil fuels, the resulting long-term carbon dioxide emissions could rival or exceed the climate impact of traditional farming.
- Skepticism and consumer trust: Many consumers view the product as unnatural or ultra-processed. Religious scholars also debate its kosher or halal status.
- Ethical and technical caveats: Some production methods historically relied on animal-derived components like fetal bovine serum to feed the cells, making it difficult to brand as entirely free from animal suffering. Replicating complex textures like thick steaks or structured cuts remains a major technical challenge.
Our Take
GOOD Meat sold the first cultivated meat product with regulatory approval in 2020, debuting chicken nuggets at a restaurant in Singapore. Regulatory approvals followed in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Hong Kong for other cultivated products, including quail, salmon, and pork.
Promotional spot sales in top restaurants or grocery outlets have not been followed by anything close to broad market availability.
This means that 13 years after Maastricht University Professor Mark Post and his team presented the world with the first cultivated burger, nothing like it is generally available in the marketplace.
That does not mean the U.S. regulatory structure is delaying or limiting opportunity in any way. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have cleared cultivated chicken, salmon and pork products for production and domestic sale.
Five lab-grown foods were approved by the FDA and FSIS between 2023 and 2025. The companies and products with the green light are: GOOD Meat, Inc. for cultured chicken; UPSIDE Foods for cultured pork; Wildtype Inc. for cultured salmon; Mission Barns for cultured chicken; and Believer Meats for cultured chicken
FDA even explains the delay in the availability of these products at local grocery stores. “Manufacturers are generally working on scaling up their processes to consistently produce amounts large enough to be competitively priced,” it states, promising to continue the work “as these products come closer to market.”
By the numbers
20 – The number of cultured meat companies operating worldwide
15 – The percentage of the market most likely to be held by just one company.
989,000,000 – The amount, in U.S. dollars, of venture funding going to cultivated meat development in 2021.
36,000,000 – The amount, in U.S. dollars, of venture funding going to cultivated meat development in 2025.
48 – The percentage of the cultured meat market expected to be held by poultry products.
38.5 – The percentage of the cultured meat market expected to be held by burgers and patties.
52.5 – The percentage of cultivated meat sales expected to come through food services.
41 – The percentage of the global cultured meat market held by North America.
What it means
Not only has cultured meat not yet been a market success, but it also has likely faded from consumers’ minds since the scientific breakthrough more than a decade ago.
Widespread adoption may yet happen, but at this point it seems a little silly that, as of 2025, eight states have enacted laws banning or heavily restricting the manufacturing, sale or distribution of lab-grown meat.
Beyond outright bans, more than 20 states have enacted strict labeling laws requiring clear, prominent labeling on alternative proteins to prevent them from being marketed or sold as conventional meat.
While not banning the product, these traditional agriculture states want to protect livestock ranchers and address consumer transparency concerns.
Conversely, technology companies argue that such measures stifle innovation, limit consumer choice, and may face constitutional challenges regarding interstate commerce.
State legal restrictions generally fall into the categories of full bans, temporary moratoriums, or strict funding and purchasing limits. Here are some examples:
- Alabama: Outlawed the manufacture, sale, or distribution of cultivated meat in 2024, imposing criminal penalties for violations.
- Florida: The first state to enact a full ban in 2024, making it a misdemeanor to manufacture, sell or distribute lab-grown meat.
- Indiana: Passed a temporary ban restricting alternative meat distribution until 2027.
- Mississippi: Enacted a ban making the sale or manufacturing of cultured animal cell products a misdemeanor offense.
- Montana: Passed legislation barring the sale and distribution of cell-cultured meat.
- Nebraska: Bans the commercial distribution of cultivated meat and restricts state agencies and educational institutions from purchasing it.
- Texas: Enacted a temporary ban on cell-cultured meat distribution extending until 2027.
- South Dakota: Implemented a five-year moratorium that took effect on July 1, 2026. The law also restricts the use of state funds for cultivated meat research or procurement.
Outside of the United States, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has yet to approve any cell-cultured food of animal origin for sale in the European Union.
Do you have any comments, questions or suggestions for future coverage? Click here to give us your feedback.
