Lab-grown chicken coming soon to the U.S., but Canadians will have to wait

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The Canadian food scene is going to look a lot different in the coming years with the addition of lab-grown meat and dairy products, according to an expert.

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For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this month approved lab-grown meat — produced by a company called Upside Food — for human consumption.

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The product is made from cultured cells of chickens grown in stainless steel tanks, meaning no animals are harmed in its production. It’s expected to hit shelves south of the border in early 2023.

We’ll likely have to wait a fair bit longer for similar offerings in Canada, according to Sylvain Charlebois, a professor and director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

“It’s not fake meat, make no mistake. These are actual proteins,” Charlebois told The Toronto Sun.

“It’s the process to make it that’s different. Instead of feeding animals, you’re feeding cells. That’s the main difference.”

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Upside Foods still needs to get the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture, but Charlebois said that is “more of a formality at this point,” since the agriculture department “is more about food safety and they’re just going to decide how to regulate this thing in the market.”

Charlebois said the FDA was the “big hurdle … so, I think we’re months away from seeing cultivated meats in the American market.”

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While Health Canada typically only lags about a year behind the Americans when faced with such approvals, many obstacles remain before we see these types of products in Canada.

For one, “the meat lobby is very strong, very powerful. That’s why it’s going to take some time,” Charlebois said. “To regulate the type of product is actually not going to be an easy thing, a slam dunk. And so my guess is that it is going to happen in Canada, but it will take at least five years.

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“You are talking some big, powerful lobby groups. You’re up against dairy, you’re up against chicken. These people are incredibly powerful and resourceful,” he said. “We have quotas. We have supply management in Canada that support animal proteins like eggs, milk and poultry. So they’re going to have a say on this.”

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Charlebois added research he’s seen shows that those over the age of 45 tend to be turned off by the idea of lab-grown meat, while younger people would generally be willing to try it, he said.

At least a dozen companies in Canada are working on lab-grown products while global efforts include attempts to create beef, cocoa, coffee and seafood products.

Knowing the term “lab-grown” can be a turnoff, the industry tends to refer to the products as cultivated meats or cultured meat. And in California, they call it “no-kill meat” to appeal to those who oppose the slaughtering of animals for food.

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“The business case for the technology is very strong, environmentally, from an animal welfare perspective,” Charlebois said.

“From a food safety perspective, look at what’s going on with the Avian Flu. You wouldn’t have that problem with lab-grown chicken,” he added. “And look at all the recalls we’ve seen in recent years. That wouldn’t happen with lab-grown meat.”