Recently, U.S. regulators outlined how meat grown from cow cells in a lab will be monitored. The growing food category seems to have a clearer path now.
With the US Department of Agriculture saying that cultured animal cells will still have to undergo agency inspection just like any other meat and poultry, the release of such technology is still a long way to go. USDA’s Carmen Rottenberg expects inspections to be similar to what they do on meat-processing plants. She continues to say that many things are still unknown, since companies haven’t researched for commercial production yet. A new label will also be required for the cell-cultured meat. It definitely won’t take the name of “ground beef” or “hamburger”, Rottenberg adds.
The process of developing cell-cultured meat claims that it has less of a carbon footprint and is more humane since it eliminates the need to raise and slaughter animals. Now, the regulation of cultured meat is off to a great start, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the USDA stated that they would share an oversight over the concept.
The joint oversight was formalized recently and claimed that the FDA would observe the first stages of the whole process. It includes cell collection and growth. Once that is finished, it will be handed off to the USDA for oversight of production and labeling. Agencies now continue to work long, arduous hours to work out the details about the regulation of these products.