Since making history as the first cultivated chicken to get FDA approval last year, lab-grown meat company, UPSIDE Foods is launching a line of ground chicken products like chicken sausages, chicken sandwiches and dumplings.
“Our first consumer product, a cultivated chicken filet, demonstrates our ability to deliver the experience of eating a more complex and textured meat product,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of UPSIDE Foods. “On the other hand, our ground products are extremely versatile and enable us to explore a range of exciting formats and flavor experiences, while also allowing us to scale faster and make cultivated meat more accessible.”
Ground meat is much easier and faster to grow than whole-textured meat, lab-grown meat that looks like real cuts of meat, which allows for increased production.
Regulatory approval for this product line is still pending, according to the press release on April 20.
Accessible lab-grown chicken
Two concerns in regard to cultivated meat are its expense and limited availability making it inaccessible to many consumers.
In addition to developing a more versatile ground chicken line to increase accessibility, UPSIDE Foods has also developed a cultivated meat process that does not require platelet-derived growth factors (PDGF).
“Our breakthrough in developing a PDGF-independent cell line represents a major scientific achievement in the production of cultivated meat," said Kevin Kayser, SVP of research and development at UPSIDE Foods. “By eliminating the most expensive growth factor in our process, we’re able to dramatically reduce cost and increase scale.”
This new process could be the boost that cultivated meat needs to impact the protein industry.
“We look forward to leveraging the insights gained to drive future innovations and continue to work towards making all of our products more delicious, affordable, humane, and sustainable,” said Kayser.
