In the battle for the future of meat: FDA and the USDA's showdown

The race among startups to create the first meat without slaughter needs an umpire – and now, there is a battle raging on who it will be.

Clean or cultivated meat, made with animal cells instead of the flesh of slaughtered animals, could reduce waste, decrease the environmental footprint of meat production and provide a more ethical way of eating the meat. meat. While a number of startups are working on creating the first clean meat products, none has yet managed to market one. The technology is early and the products are still too expensive to create something that is viable for retail.

Two major federal agencies oversee the world of meat production: the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But it is unclear what is the jurisdiction over clean or cultivated meat, which is getting closer and closer to our plates.

This could be embarrbading for startups, who can take their products to other countries instead of embark on a federal turf war here in the United States. The governments of Israel and Japan, for example, have recently announced investments in start-ups working on clean meat and fish.

The battle began earlier this month when, shortly after the FDA announced that it would hold a public meeting on cultured meat, the White House Internal Policy Council asked members of the the USDA and the FDA to sit down. discuss.

After this meeting, the USDA was waiting to be invited to the FDA's public meeting on cultured meat (or canceled the event), according to a letter sent Wednesday to the office of the US Food and Agriculture Organization. White House budget by two members of Congress. at the USDA and the FDA. But that is not what happened, wrote the authors of the letter.

"Our expectation was that the White House meeting ordered the USDA and the FDA to coordinate on this issue, including the July 12 meeting, but that was not the result based on the agenda published by the FDA ".

We do not know what will happen next.

The USDA clearly wants a bigger seat at the table and a more direct role in the FDA's work on farmed meat.

"While we appreciate the FDA's interest in overseeing certain aspects of the regulation of these innovative products, the US Department of Agriculture also plays an obvious role in ensuring their safety and accurate labeling ", write the authors of the letter. felt that the "USDA" should be included in Thursday's meeting ", but" if that is not possible … there should be a follow-up meeting with both agencies as equal participants ".

The agenda for Thursday's meeting did not include any USDA participation.

It did, however, include presentations from several space-based startups, including two San Francisco-based startups: Just (formerly Hampton Creek), which is known for its vegan mayonnaise and scrambled eggs, and claims to be on the point of finalizing a turkey meat or chicken meat, and Finless Foods, which produces fish meat from fish cells.

"We believe that we can produce meat far more efficiently than conventional approaches with a fraction of greenhouse gas and water emissions," said Peter Licari, director of Just Technology. . "Despite the challenges ahead … it's where we are heading."

The USDA and the FDA appear to be in agreement. Now, they just need to understand how to supervise it.

"The two agencies should work together on a scientific approach to a regulatory framework for these products," reads the letter.