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Lab-produced ‘fake meat’ gets a hearing

Proponents and critics of lab-produced fake meat had their say Thursday at a Food and Drug Administration hearing.

The hearing was for interested parties to comment on the technology and how it should be regulated. Among those testifying was Texas A&M meat scientist Rhonda Miller.

“Cultured tissue for human consumption has many unknowns,” Miller said. “Meat scientists do not have enough information about cultured tissue to determine whether it should be called meat or how it should be regulated.”

Groups representing beef and pork producers argue that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service should have regulatory authority over lab-produced meat products. But FDA officials say they should oversee regulation of the new products.  The National Pork Producers Council calls it “a regulatory land grab” by the FDA.