FDA Says Cultured Animal Cell Pet Food Ingredients Are Not Approved – Truth about Pet Food

July 6, 2023 Kar-Bay-Inc

Cell Cultured chicken products was recently approved for human consumption by FDA and USDA. This human food approval follows several months of press releases and news stories alluding that similar lab grown meats are currently being used in pet foods and treats.

Back in April 2023, CULT Food Science issued a press release stating the company “is pleased to announce the expansion of its pet food division through the launch of three new consumer brands. The new brands will leverage cultivated ingredients in partnership with the Company’s portfolio companies, aiming to be a first mover in making cultured meat available for pets in North America.”

BioCraftPet.com states: “BioCrafted meat offers pet food manufacturers several advantages over conventional meat ingredients, including product quality, safety, nutrition and supply chain stability. Thanks to the controlled and pathogen-free environment in which it’s produced, BioCrafted meat offers manufacturers a more uniform raw material that is significantly less likely to carry any pathogens (such as Salmonella, E. coli, and other common fecal-borne bacteria) that might otherwise lead to costly recalls. The tunable process of growing cultured meat in bioreactors also means that BioCrafted meat allows for customizable nutritional content, enabling manufacturers to create nutritionally optimized products tailored to the specific needs of pets.”

We sent the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) the following questions:

The FDA has given approval to two different companies for cell cultured chicken for human consumption. Does the FDA ‘no questions’ letter to these companies also mean cell cultured chicken is approved for use in pet food?
If used in pet food, will the label require disclosure of these ingredients?
Are the by-products of the production of cell cultured chicken currently used in pet food? If not now, is the FDA CVM considering approval of any cell cultured meat by-products (by-products of the production of cell cultured meat)?
If used in pet food, will the label require disclosure of cell cultured meat by-products? What are the ingredient names?

The FDA just responded with:

“There is currently no food made from cultured animal cells approved or otherwise accepted for use in animal food. Because we have not yet approved any food made from cultured animal cells, we have not yet considered how such products would be labeled for use in animal food. If firms intend to market the cultured animal cell food products, or any of the byproducts generated during the production of process, for animal food, firms should contact the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Division of Animal Food Ingredients, at Animalfood-premarket@fda.hhs.gov.“

For now, the press releases about cell cultured pet food ingredients are just marketing (even though they don’t read as marketing). If/when we learn that these ingredients will be approved – we will share that information with pet owners.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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