USDA approves lab-grown chicken for sale in the US, raising questions about food safety and climate impact.

The USDA has approved the sale of lab-grown chicken, allowing companies like UPSIDE Foods and Eat Just to begin producing and selling the product. While it may take years before lab-grown chicken is available in regional grocery chains due to price competition with conventionally raised livestock, the companies are working to increase production. The approval involves a rigorous process, including assessing a firm's food-safety system. Lab-grown meat is grown in steel tanks using cells from a living animal, making it real meat, not "fake meat." Advocates describe it as clean, safe, and humane compared to conventional ways of raising livestock.