• From Bloomberg:
"Eat Just Inc. and Upside Foods Inc. have received approvals from the US Department of Agriculture to sell cell-based chicken commercially, the companies announced Wednesday.
"It’s a historic moment for the cultivated meat and seafood industry, which has raised nearly $3 billion for more than 150 companies around the world. Eat Just and Upside had cleared earlier hurdles, including separate nods for both companies’ labels to sell products and letters confirming the US Food and Drug Administration had no questions about their safety conclusions. But neither step meant that members of the public would be able to purchase the products in the US.
"With USDA approvals in hand, both have said they have already begun production for sale: Eat Just will launch with restaurants owned by chef José Andrés in Washington, and Upside will debut at chef Dominique Crenn’s restaurant Bar Crenn in San Francisco."
The Washington Post writes that "dozens of major food companies are eager to debut cultivated meat to the American public. Singapore has been the only country in which these products are legally sold to consumers.
"U.S. law requires all commercially sold meat and poultry to undergo routine inspections for safety and proper labeling.To accomplish this, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) places inspectors in slaughterhouses and processing plants — and, for the first time in history, will assign inspectors to cultivated meat and poultry facilities."
• From the Miami Herald:
"Publix is rolling out an ice cream truck that will make stops across Florida this summer.
"The Lakeland-based supermarket chain will give away scoops as a promotion. The company also sends marketing teams to festivals and other events to give away supermarket swag like key rings, pens and drink holders.
"But ice cream is a new level of retail persuasion for Publix … The truck is surely a way to get the company’s summer ice cream flavors onto our palates — and possibly into our shopping carts during the next grocery run. Those flavors include lemon berry bliss with lemonade-flavored flakes, strawberry with white chocolate-flavored strawberry pecan bark, and piña colada with pineapple-flavored pieces."
