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Cell-cultivated meat is food made by growing animal cells, rather than by raising and slaughtering an animal for its meat. It is animal-cell-derived—not a plant-based imitation—but its production and federal oversight differ from conventional meat. USDA’s 2025 account said cultured poultry was available only at select restaurants and that none was sold in retail stores; that is a dated snapshot, not a verified picture of the market in October 2026.
What “cell-cultivated” means
In cell cultivation, animal cells are grown and developed into material used to make food. The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) describes this category as cellular agriculture, distinguishing it from both meat obtained through slaughter and plant-based substitutes. The words “cell-cultivated” describe the production method; they do not mean that the product is made from plants.
| Product type | Source material | How it is produced |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional meat | Animal tissue | An animal is raised and slaughtered. |
| Cell-cultivated meat | Animal cells | Cells are grown and developed for use in food. |
| Plant-based meat substitute | Plant ingredients | Ingredients are assembled or processed into a meat-style product. |
Calling it “real meat” can depend on what a person means by real: the material comes from animal cells, but it is not produced by slaughtering an animal. The label and specific product determine what a shopper is buying.
How FDA and USDA FSIS divide oversight
Federal oversight is divided by production stage and product category. Under the 2019 formal agreement described by USDA ERS, FDA oversees relevant cell-culture activities through harvest, while USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) oversees covered meat and poultry products at and after harvest. The arrangement applies to products within the agencies’ respective statutory jurisdictions; it does not mean FSIS regulates every food made through cellular agriculture.
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- FDA: Oversees initial cell collection, qualified cell banks, cell proliferation and differentiation through harvest. It also conducts voluntary premarket consultations for products within its role.
- FSIS: For covered meat and poultry, oversees relevant activities at and after harvest, including inspection, establishment requirements and product labeling. Covered harvesting establishments must obtain inspection grants.
For covered products, FDA shares pertinent publicly available information with FSIS at harvest. FDA’s 2022 consultation with UPSIDE Foods was the agency’s first voluntary premarket consultation of this kind; ERS reported that FDA concluded the company’s harvested cell material was as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods. That finding concerned the specific UPSIDE Foods material reviewed, not a blanket approval of all cultivated meat.
What the label tells you—and what remains unsettled
USDA ERS reported in 2024 that FSIS had approved “cell-cultured” and “cell-cultivated” as labeling terms for cell-cultured chicken products that entered commerce. The report also said there was no final general guidance on terminology at the time it was written.
FSIS’s 2025 explanatory notes described an interim approach: existing labeling requirements would apply while rulemaking was pending, and FSIS would extensively review labels before any retail sale if rulemaking had not been completed. Those notes projected a proposed rule in 2024, but the projection does not establish whether a proposal, final rule or guidance was issued later. The sources cited here do not establish the later status of that rulemaking.
Where consumers could find it, according to USDA’s 2025 snapshot
FSIS said in its 2025 explanatory notes that cultured poultry products were then available exclusively at select restaurants, and that no food products made from cultured animal cells were available in retail stores. This statement describes the agency’s reported status in that document; it is not a verified market inventory for October 2026. It also addresses the products covered by that statement, rather than establishing availability everywhere or for every kind of cellular-agriculture food.
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What USDA’s comment figures do—and do not—show
Public comments can show which terms people submitted during a regulatory process, but they are not a representative poll. The commenters chose whether to participate, so counts cannot establish what consumers overall prefer or understand.
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- FSIS’s 2025 explanatory notes said USDA had received more than 1,100 comments on its 2021 advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
- In its 2024 analysis of comments responding to whether names should distinguish cultivated products from meat or poultry produced by slaughter, USDA ERS counted 958 of 1,154 responses in favor of distinguishing the names.
- Among terms suggested in the comment record, ERS counted 205 mentions of “lab-raised,” 131 of “lab-cultured protein,” 119 of “cultured meat,” 90 of “cultivated meat” and 73 of “lab-grown meat.” These are mentions in submitted comments, not estimates of public preference.
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