Lab-Grown Salmon Gets FDA Approval

States keep banning lab-grown meat. Entrepreneurs keep innovating anyway.

While a handful of states have banned the sale or production of lab-grown meat within their borders, the infant industry is still innovating. Cultivated salmon company Wildtype received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in late May, and the company announced it would soon be served at a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, with additional restaurants set to serve the fish in the coming months.

"We're proud to share that we completed a thorough pre-market safety consultation with FDA," the company said in a press release this month. "Transparency is important to us at Wildtype."

Wildtype is the third lab-grown meat producer to receive full government approval. Two other companies focused on lab-grown chicken gained approval in 2023. Cultivated chicken enjoyed a brief restaurant-based debut that year before falling out of the commercial market. With Wildtype's launch, it will be the only lab-cultivated meat product available for commercial sale in the United States.

"Based on the information Wildtype has presented to FDA, as well as other information available to the agency, we did not identify a basis for concluding that the production process…would be expected to result in food that bears or contains any substance or microorganism that would adulterate the food," reads the FDA's letter to Wildtype. "However, as you are aware, it is Wildtype's continuing responsibility to ensure that foods it markets are safe, wholesome, and in compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements."

While the cultivated-meat industry is obviously infinitesimal compared to traditional animal agriculture, that hasn't stopped several states from banning lab-grown meat, often justifying their actions with overtures to protecting meat producers from competition.

"We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture," Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said in a press release after Florida banned lab-cultivated meat last year. "Lab-grown meat is a disgraceful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity, and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture."

Could Wildtype's Salmon ever compete with the real thing? Well, I tried Wildtype at a tasting last year. While the cultivated Salmon won't fool any devoted seafood lovers, it has a pleasantly fishy, savory flavor profile—though like other lab-grown meat products, it struggles on the texture front. For dedicated vegetarians, or just anyone looking to try salmon without the risk of heavy metal or parasite exposure common in slaughtered fish, Wildtype could be an attractive alternative. But when states intervene to protect special interests, they keep consumers from deciding for themselves.