The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved laboratory grown meat for human consumption for the first time.
FDA said in a statement that it had "evaluated the information submitted to the agency and has no further questions at this time about the firm's safety conclusion."
The agency evaluated data from the firm Upside saying, "The firm will use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to make the cultured animal cell food."
Upside Foodsresponded to the FDA's notice writing, "Today we are one step closer to your dining tables as Upside Foods becomes the first company in the world to receive the USFDA greenlight -- that means the FDA has evaluated our production process and accepts our conclusion that our cultivated chicken is safe to eat."
The FDA said it is now ready to work with other "firms developing cultured animal cell food and production processes," signaling that the cultivation of meat in a laboratory could be seen more often in the future.
Lab grown meat has already seen approvals in other countries like Singapore.
Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of the California-based company Upside Foods, worked as a cardiologist and started the company in 2015 with produces "cultivated" meat.
Valeti came up with the idea for the company while working at the Mayo Clinic growing human heart cells in a laboratory, NPR reported.
