From the first $300,000 burger in 2013, a lot has changed in cellular agriculture (‘cell ag’). Since that taste test of the first cultured meat burger, cell ag companies have gotten traction and have gone beyond their own taste tests [1]. Memphis Meats became the first company to produce cultured poultry meat, such as chicken and duck. Finless Foods has plans to release a limited amount of its cultured fish meat by the end of 2019 [2].

Cultured chicken meat by Memphis Meats

Beyond cultured meat, cellular agriculture has gained momentum elsewhere too. Modern Meadow has exhibited a proof-of-concept shirt designed with their cell ag bioleather at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City [3]. Perfect Day Foods and Clara Foods are fielding interest from other companies to use their animal-free dairy milk and egg white, respectively [4, 5].

Clearly, cell ag has made progress.

One of the most recent players in cellular agriculture, Hampton Creek, plans to launch their first cultured meat product by the end of 2018 [1]. This is a lot sooner than other companies have planned (Memphis Meats and Mosa Meat both are aiming for a 2021 launch) [6]. Besides the challenge of scaling production to get from lab to market, there are many obstacles ahead for cellular agriculture. This article will explore some of the hurdles ahead in cell ag as companies prepare to enter the market.

Regulatory Aspects: Who’s in control?

One of the first questions many people have about cellular agriculture is who is in charge of making sure it’s safe? In Europe, new regulation has put the European Commission in charge of approving and regulating novel foods, including cultured meat [7]. In the United States, where most cell ag companies are based, the answer is still unclear. Traditionally, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates and oversees animal products like meat, milk, and eggs [8]. But what if those animal products are coming from cell cultures, a field that the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) would have oversight over [8]?

Perfect Day’s animal-free milk

Since there is no precedent for cultured meat, it will likely have to go through FDA’s regulatory and safety screenings. Cell ag companies with acellular products via yeast, like Perfect Day’s cow-free dairy milk and Clara Food’s hen-free egg white, could skip FDA’s regulatory safety assessment altogether. This can be done by showing their products use procedures and ingredients that have already been generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Since egg white proteins and milk proteins like casein and whey are already deemed GRAS, these two companies may be able to skip FDA safety approval by using pre-approved GRAS yeast strains [8].

Yet this begs the question: should these companies still voluntarily go through FDA’s safety regulation? More so, how could these companies address consumer safety concerns if they bypassed the FDA? Nearly all the cell ag startups pride themselves in being transparent with the public, so it would be surprising if they choose not to voluntarily show that their products are safe.

Public Perception

No matter how safe or sustainable cellular agriculture may make animal products, or how many regulations are put to ensure the product’s safety, it ultimately comes down to consumers and the public to accept cellular agriculture. As with most novel technologies, time will tell to see how the public perceives and accepts this new category of sustainable goods

A lot of actors in the field are trying to promote cellular agriculture by being as transparent as possible about the science, the manufacturing process, and the positive environmental implications [2, 9, 10]. Research has shown that when taught about the sustainability aspect of cell ag in comparison to conventional animal products, people view it more positively and are more interested in trying it [11]. Using quantitative labels on animal products would also help show the large environmental impact of conventional animal products in comparison to cellular agriculture ones [12]. This would be more effective than qualitative labels, which requires prior knowledge of those labels to understand them [13].

Beyond public understanding of cellular agriculture’s sustainability, there are questions about cultural acceptance that still need to be addressed. For the world’s Jewish and Muslim populations, for example, it is yet to be determined whether cultured meat can be labelled as kosher or halal, respectively [14]. It will be important for all actors in the field to fully address this and any other questions or concerns that emerge as cell ag products enter the market.

Socio-politics and Market Competition

A key challenge that cellular agriculture (and all innovative technologies) has to face is the socioeconomic impact of what their technology may cause. In the United States, over 1.6 million people are employed by the livestock industry, which makes up about 22% ($31.8 billion) of all income from agricultural exports [15]. If cellular agriculture successfully enters the market and one day becomes large enough to disrupt the livestock industry, what would happen to all the people involved in the livestock industry? While this isn’t a question that cell ag companies would necessarily be asking, it is an important political question that may have severe implications.

In order for cell ag to be successful and widespread, there will need to be political support — either in the form of positive policies or a lack of negative targeting policies. Will politicians and governments embrace the new technology, or will they feel threatened by it? It is important to balance the needs of one’s constituents and citizens with the needs for a sustainable food system that provides enough to feed the world by 2050, and only time will ultimately tell what happens [16].