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* From the FDA last November…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completed its first pre-market consultation for a human food made from cultured animal cells. We evaluated the information UPSIDE Foods submitted to the agency and have no further questions at this time about the firm’s safety conclusion. 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.
* CNN…
In a nutshell, lab-grown meat — or cultivated or cell-based meat — is meat that is developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors.
This happens in a production facility that looks a lot like a brewery: When you picture it, don’t think of people in white coats and hairnets peering through microscopes into petri dishes, but instead people in white coats and hairnets wandering between giant vats.
* From UPSIDE Foods…
Saturday, July 1st, 2023, marked an epic milestone as UPSIDE Foods made its mark in history books as the first-ever cell-cultivated meat company to sell its product in America.
Food pics are here.
* Today…
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced today that UPSIDE Foods – a leading cultivated meat, poultry and seafood company will locate its first commercial-scale production facility in Glenview. As the first cultivated meat company to receive FDA approval, UPSIDE’s new Glenview facility marks a major milestone for cultivated meat production – supporting Illinois’ ecosystem and adding to the state’s dominance in the food processing industry. Bolstered by one of the first EDGE for Start Ups agreements, the company will invest at least $141 million and create a minimum of 75 new jobs. […]
“We’re excited that the next chapter of our journey towards building a more sustainable, humane, and abundant future will be in Illinois,” said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and Founder of UPSIDE Foods. “Establishing our plant in this region allows us to tap into a remarkable talent pool, a thriving innovation ecosystem, and a notable history of meat production. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnership that we have built at the state, county, and local levels in our site selection process.” […]
The 187,000-square-foot facility in Glenview will open with production of ground cultivated chicken products, with plans to expand to other species and whole-textured formats in the future. Millions of pounds of cultivated meat products will be produced at the new facility, with the potential to expand to over 30 million pounds – a significant step toward creating a more humane, sustainable, and resilient food system. Cultivated meat is an innovative solution to helping solve the climate crisis by ensuring animals aren’t harmed while using less land, water, and emissions during production.
As one of the world’s largest and most advanced commercial cultivated meat facilities, the state-of-the-art facility in Glenview will house cultivators with capacities of up to 100,000 liters. UPSIDE Foods’ cultivated meat is already being served to diners in California.
As part of the State’s comprehensive incentive package, the company received one of the first Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) for Startups tax credits, which stipulates a goal of making a $141 million investment and creating 75 new full-time jobs. A link to the full agreement can be found here.
The EDGE program was expanded to include startups in 2022 to spur additional investment for newer companies that are in their growth stage. In order to do this, EDGE for Start Ups provides a benefit that allow companies to reduce their payroll withholding instead of their Illinois corporate income tax credit. This enables start-up companies without corporate income tax liabilities to maximize their incentive to reinvest into their expansion project.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:08 am
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Another win for Pritzker. Gotta hand it to him when he deserves it. He’s working his tail off to bring jobs to Illinois.
Comment by lol Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:27 am
This is very good news This is just as cutting edge as EV.
Comment by Craftmeat Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:44 am
It’s amazing how much business you can bring to the state without just stomping your feet until everyone else agrees to take a pay cut.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:47 am
It is great to be a leader in the use of technologies. Good luck, UPSIDE and Glenview.
The pictures looks appetizing. I wonder how long it will take for lay-Illinoisans to overcome the fear of “with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors.”
Comment by H-W Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:47 am
Congrats again for another business expansion, to all who are responsible. Robust investment in infrastructure and education and an improved fiscal situation are strong positives for businesses to locate and expand in Illinois. Now there are the added pluses of certain states enacting damaging laws against the marginalized and women, which can bring Illinois more business and residents.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:49 am
The initial production of soylent green.
Comment by Huh? Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:54 am
Gross
Comment by Central Ill Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:58 am
Chicken, Shmicken.
Have you seen the pictures of what they can do with Salmon? OMG.
Comment by We've never had one before Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:00 am
Good on the guy for bringing in business. But I find the business itself to be pretty weird.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:03 am
===Gross===
Have you ever watched animals being slaughtered en masse?
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:07 am
It’s the exact same meat but grown without killing the animal. Thanks for the excellant coverage Rich. It’s often poorly reported
Comment by Craftmeat Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:12 am
==But I find the business itself to be pretty weird.==
I tend to agree, but I imagine that in 10 years or so I’ll be pretty accustomed to it.
Frankly, it’s not like many other processed foods are really objectively better, we’re just used to them/don’t look under the hood as much.
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:14 am
I’m not trying to rain on the parade since I’m sincerely interested in trying this kind of meat, but this particular company has quite a few issues according to a Wall Street Journal report from April.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-struggle-to-make-lab-grown-meat-12cf46ab?st=kzja9vw9iug1mb8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Comment by Google Is Your Friend Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:18 am
“animals being slaughtered”
We are accustomed to purchasing our meat in neat styrofoam and cellophane packages. As such we are unaware of the processes which are necessary to get that package from hoof to shopping cart.
A number of years ago, I butchered a deer with a nephew, the process was bloody and messy.
As a society, we have gotten so far away from the sources of food that we do not understand what it takes to stock the grocery store with the pretty vegetables and neat packages of meat.
Comment by Huh? Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:22 am
===As a society, we have gotten so far away from the sources of food===
This has been the case for a very long time.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:23 am
As a livestock farmer I applaud the Governor and the company for economic development. Probably stick with real meat., myself.
Comment by flea Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:26 am
When I was a Cub Scout our denmother took a group of us to a slaughterhouse so we could learn where food comes from. It was both fascinating and creepy.
Reflecting on it now, I can only say “What the heck was she thinking?”
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:27 am
“tastes like chicken”…
… Because it is. I’m excited to see this becoming practical. If it’s legit and costs the same or less, I’ll try it.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:48 am
Happy for the new jobs and hope for future growth of the industry overall here.
I do wonder who the market for this will be. It’s actually meat so a vegetarian wouldn’t want to eat it, unless they start to change perspective on meat raised without killing an animal each time. Lots of meat eaters are otherwise driven by price and taste, so I’m curious to see how it compares.
And as always their will be chance for spillover job creation as this plant needs all sorts of things to sustain itself.
Lastly, 30 million pounds sounds like a lot of meat production - but the US slaughters 8 billion chickens each year.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:48 am
“Have you ever watched animals being slaughtered en masse?”. Yes, I have. Not pretty, but I’m not eating anything grown in a petri dish and “engineered” with whatever the “experts” think is good for me.
Comment by Central Ill Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:51 am
Like “kopi”, I’m not entirely sure I want to eat it, but I’m glad it is happening. Might be the way of the future. And good job JB! The comparison with the previous guy is getting starker every day.
Comment by Jibba Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:52 am
Want to eat chicken, beef, or fish on a space station or generational space voyage?
This is how it’s gonna be done.
Comment by We've never had one before Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 11:57 am
Interesting. will PETA be against it because it starts with cultured animal cells? I once asked a PETA lobbyist who was bothering me what I should do about feeding the cats.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 12:19 pm
As of right now, the production costs for cultivated meat makes me skeptical that it will become common anytime soon if ever. Currently, it’s estimated that a pound of cultivated beef has roughly a $17 production cost. However, that translates to a $40 per pound grocery store price.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/05/opinions/lab-grown-meat-expensive-distraction-driver/index.html#:~:text=Lab%2Dgrown%20meat%2C%20also%20known,allow%20people%20to%20try%20it
Comment by Illiana Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 12:52 pm
I take most of those commenting here have never read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. High School reading lists in some places have been lacking for over a century apparently.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 12:58 pm
Meat…Steak…Beef…Pork…Chicken…are deceptive words…for dead animal muscle and dead animal flesh.
Truthfully.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 12:58 pm
Who really owns genetically engineered food, Soros and Gates? Are they going to vaccinate everybody without permission and put more hormones in food to turn kids more transgender and leftist [Elon might agree and promote]? Think [irony] about it. They are [vacant look and banned punctuation].
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 1:04 pm
===As of right now===
Yes, but we’ll see what happens if they manage to scale this up to factory level production.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 1:05 pm
===Who really owns genetically engineered food, Soros and Gates? Are they going to vaccinate everybody without permission and put more hormones in food to turn kids more transgender and leftist [Elon might agree and promote]? Think [irony] about it. They are [vacant look and banned punctuation].===
Stephen King would like to interview you for his next Hollly Gibney novel.
(IYKYK)
Comment by Nick Name Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 1:38 pm
I grew up on a farm, but I ain’t never seen “massive bioreactors”.
No thanks. Maybe when I go on that “generational space voyage” I’ll try it.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 1:51 pm
=I grew up on a farm, but I ain’t never seen “massive bioreactors”.=
But you have seen GMO crops. Same difference.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 2:06 pm
=“massive bioreactors”.=
Meh.
You ever eat yogurt? Drink beer? Work on a dairy farm? Lots of bioreactions and digesting going on there.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 2:18 pm
Recently read about this new technology in a book about climate change. Apparently we also will soon find it pretty normal to consume proteins made from insects. Or at the least our livestock will be fed a lot of insect based protein. Exciting IL is ahead of the curve w the lab made meat. Go Pritzker and team!
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Prepare-for-Climate-Change/David-Pogue/9781982134518
Comment by Ugh Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 2:33 pm
= I take most of those commenting here have never read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. =
That book turned my grandmother (briefly) into a vegetarian.
Comment by JoanP Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 2:40 pm
= I take most of those commenting here have never read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. =
I discussed excerpts from that book in a marketing course I taught at the university up until the time I retired. Many of the students then looked it up and read it. Now that the university convinced me to come back and teach a section of the capstone strategy course, I will see if it still has legs with the students.
Comment by former southerner Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 4:17 pm
=That book turned my grandmother (briefly) into a vegetarian.=
Ironic. Upton Sinclair was trying to turn your grandmother into a labor organizer and advocate for new immigrants. But as he said: “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
Comment by Dysfunction Junction Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 4:23 pm
There was a wonderfully satirical sitcom around 2010 called “Better off Ted” about the R&D department of an evil megacorp. In one of the episodes they had to grow a pot roast from cells. You can see the show on Hulu.
Comment by G'Kar Thursday, Sep 14, 23 @ 10:45 pm