In recent years, companies aiming to make lab-grown, or "cultivated" meat, have made significant strides with their products. However, it's unlikely that these products will be widely available anytime soon since the manufacturing process continues to face significant challenges, Kristina Peterson and Jesse Newman write for the  Wall Street Journal.

The rise of 'cultivated' meat

Lab-grown meat, also known as "cultivated" meat, is produced by taking animal stem cell samples and growing them in controlled environments with nutrients like amino acids and sugars. This process only produces meat, rather than a complete animal. After a few weeks of growth, the cells are then harvested and formed into more familiar shapes, such as chicken breasts or meatballs.

According to supporters, cultivated meat could significantly reduce the need for animal slaughter in meat production. It could also reduce the environmental impact of meat production since the cultivation process typically uses less land and produces less air pollution.

Currently, there are more than 150 cultivated meat companies worldwide, which have so far garnered $2.8 billion in investments, including from "meat giants" like  Tyson Foods and  Cargill, Peterson and Newman write.

In the United States, two companies, Upside Foods and  Eat Just, have largely led the cultivated meat industry, with both receiving safety confirmations for their cultivated chicken products from FDA  in recent months. Upside received its safety confirmation in November and Eat Just received its confirmation in March.

"It's nearly time to eat cultivated meat," said Eric Schulze, VP of global scientific and regulatory affairs at Upside. "Our Upside chicken is coming to consumers very soon."

Currently, the only country that allows for the sale of lab-grown meat is Singapore. Both Upside and Just Eat are still awaiting clearance from the  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) before their products can be sold to consumers in the United States.

According to Upside Foods, it plans to launch its first product, a chicken filet, at a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco once it receives USDA approval.

The challenges of producing lab-grown meat

Despite recent advancements, cultivated meat companies still face considerable challenges before they will be able to scale up their production and match the volumes produced in the conventional meat industry.

Compared to the global meat industry, which is expected to produce over 350 million metric tons of meat this year, cultivated meat companies are currently only able to produce a few thousand pounds of its product each year. Upside's pilot plant, which opened in 2021, is also still not operating at its 50,000-pound annual capacity.

"We can make it on small scales successfully," said Josh Tetrick, CEO of Eat Just. "What is uncertain is whether we and other companies will be able to produce this at the largest of scales, at the lowest of costs within the next decade."

According to Peterson and Newman, the difficulty in growing whole cuts of meat is hindering the ability of these companies to scale production. The process is complex, costly, and time-consuming. Instead of being able to grow the meat in large bioreactors, some companies are relying on hundreds of "roller bottles" to make just a few cultivated chicken filets.

"Roller bottles aren't scalable," said David Humbird, an independent chemical engineer who has voiced skepticism about the cultivated meat industry. "Too small, too labor-intensive."

In addition, contamination remains a challenge for many companies in the industry. Because cultivating meat requires "meticulous sterilization," even trace amounts of bacteria can quickly contaminate a bioreactor and ruin the meat growing in it.

For example, in 2019, an analysis of a line of cultivated chicken from Upside found that it had been contaminated by rodent DNA. According to Amy Chen, Upside's COO, the DNA came from using a common medical research technique, which the company has since stopped using, to encourage meat cell growth early on in the cultivation process.

With whole meat products difficult to produce in large quantities, some companies are now working on hybrid products, which contain both cultivated meat cells and other ingredients, such as vegetables and plant-based protein. These products will be both cheaper and easier for companies to produce in large quantities.

So far, with production costs remaining relatively high and ongoing challenges in increasing production, it is unlikely that cultivated meat will be widely available to consumers anytime soon, even if it is approved by regulators. According to Cargill, it will likely take cultivated meat companies until the mid-2030s before they can produce meat in large volumes.

"There's not been anything close to a cakewalk," said Upside CEO Uma Valeti. "But we entered this knowing this is going to be really challenging." (Peterson/Newman, Wall Street Journal, 4/23 [1]; Peterson/Newman, Wall Street Journal, 4/23 [2])