A year ago, applications for a cell-cultured foie gras product were dropped off at the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the United Kingdom, the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), and the EU’s European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
It was that last one that got the most notice because it marked the first time that EFSA, the European Union’s food safety unit, received an application to produce and sell laboratory-grown meat in the EU. Until then, it seemed as though the fledgling cell-cultured industry was avoiding EFSA and its rigorous novel food review.
But EFSA’s novel food review, which was expected to take at least 18 months, is now well underway for the Gourmey, the cell harvesting food company based in France, that hopes to revolutionize the duck liver market with a new worldwide choice for foie gras enthusiasts.
The cell-cultivated, or as it is sometimes called the alt-meat sector, remains mostly out of sight and mind because the products that have been approved remain mostly unavailable to consumers. In the United States, some specific products have been approved by the FDA and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, using a question-based review.
Five years after Singapore gave the green light for the first production and sale of cultivated meat products, the sector remains a venture capital play with so far disappointing returns. The venture crowd invested $3 billion in cell-cultured research and development between 2013 and 2023.
Where things stand currently, with the wait for the EU’s first novel food review for a cell-cultured product and with a handful of approvals by other governments, but with no real market presence, is a stage insiders are calling “the trough of disillusionment.” The term refers to the period when a technology is not meeting expectations, and it’s uncertain whether it will eventually fulfill its promises or fail.
Israeli startup Believer Meats, with a facility in North Carolina that it claims can produce 12,000 tons of cultivated chicken per year, is the first non-U.S. company to receive FDA clearance. Believer Meats still needs USDA inspection and label approval before going to market. The process involves working with fat cells that can be combined with plant proteins to make chicken products.
FDA’s first “No Questions” letter approval went to UPSIDE Foods on Nov. 16, 2022, for cultured chicken cell material. The following spring, the FDA approved GOOD Meat Inc. for the same product on March 20, 2023. Two years went by before the third approval for cultured pork fat cells went out to Mission Barns on March 7, 2025. Then, the FDA approved Wildtype Inc.’s cultured salmon cell material on May 29, 2025.
The official date of Believer Meats’ approval isn’t known, but it is the third approval to occur this year and the fifth overall. The company announced the news on July 24, calling it a “transformative moment” for Believer Meats and “the cultivated meat industry as a whole.”
“We’ve received the FDA’s ‘no questions’ letter, confirming the agency’s acceptance of our safety conclusion,” said the CEO Gustavo Burger.
A “No Questions Letter (NQL)” from the FDA means the agency has reviewed submitted information and found the product or ingredient safe for human consumption. USDA inspection of production facilities and label approval are also required before a cell-cultured product goes to market.
NQLs and scientific memorandums are posted on the FDA’s website after approvals.
Cultivated meat bans
Just as the occasional application approval makes news, so do the handful of states that have so far banned the production and sale of cultivated meat or use of state funds within their boundaries. Florida’s ban on cell-cultured meat went into effect more than one year ago on July 1, 2024.
It was the first in the nation to ban “any meat or food product produced from cultured animal cells,” with violations being a second-degree misdemeanor. UPSIDE Foods Inc. fairly quickly sued the state of Florida in federal court for the Northern District of Florida.
Florida attempted to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this year, but the federal judge opted to hear the case. The California-based company UPSIDE was the first to have its cell-cultured chicken approved by the FDA. It contends the ban is unconstitutional in that it protects Florida producers over those with products from out of state. It objects to the use of jail time and fines for purposes unrelated to health or food safety concerns.
Alabama’s ban on cell-cultured meat took effect on Oct. 1, 2024. The second state ban to be enacted prohibits the sale, offering for sale, trading, or distribution of any cultured meat for human consumpton
Recent (2025) cultivated meat bans
Mississippi — The Legislature unanimously passed House Bill 1006, becoming the third state, after Florida and Alabama, to ban, effective July 1, 2025, the manufacturing, selling, or distributing of cultivated food products derived from cultured animal cells. The law defines them as any food produced from cultured animal cells. Violations are misdemeanors, punishable by fines up to $500 or three months’ imprisonment.
The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the State Department of Health are authorized to enforce the ban, with measures like license suspensions for non-compliant retail food establishments. The law also prohibits labeling cultured cell products as meat to avoid consumer confusion.
Nebraska — LB 246 was introduced into the Nebraska Unicameral at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen in January 2025 to prohibit the production, import, distribution, promotion, display, or sale of cultivated-protein food products. The bill would define these as foods mimicking animal tissue, grown in vitro from stem cells initially isolated from agricultural animals, distinct from plant-based alternatives like the Impossible Burger.
Nebraska, the second largest cattle-producing state after Texas, generates nearly $31.6 billion from its cattle and livestock industries, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, underscoring the economic context of this legislation. The ban passed the Unicameral on a 38-to-11 vote..
South Dakota — House Bill 1118, signed into law by Gov. Larry Rhoden in February 2025, is not a retail ban but instead prohibits state funds from being used for the research, production, promotion, sale, or distribution of cell-cultured protein, defined as human food made from animal cell cultures or DNA grown outside a live animal. Exemptions apply to the Board of Regents, its institutions, and state agencies performing certain regulatory functions. The law reflects South Dakota’s focus on supporting its established meat industry by limiting financial backing for cultivated meat.
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