![\"Pigs](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-03-11_17-14-50-469-scaled-e1741738553130.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SAN FRANCISCO,\u00a0 California\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Can salami eaters tell lab-grown pork butts from fat meat?<\/p>\n Or will they react to them as to green eggs and ham,\u00a0 offered by the Dr. Seuss character Sam-I-am:<\/p>\n \u201cI do not like it,\u00a0 Sam-I-am!\u00a0 It may be good for pigs and the planet,\u00a0 but I don\u2019t give a damn!\u201d<\/p>\n The San Francisco-based biotech company Mission Barns is betting $60 million in start-up expense that bacon buffs will not know the difference,\u00a0 or will not care,\u00a0 and will conclude,\u00a0 \u201cSay,\u00a0 I like lab-grown ham!\u00a0 I do,\u00a0 I like it,\u00a0 Sam-I-am!\u00a0 Thank you,\u00a0 thank you,\u00a0 Sam-I-am!\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mission Barns on March 7,\u00a0 2025 announced that it had received final U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval to allow consumers to pig out,\u00a0 literally,\u00a0 on pork with no pig in it.<\/p>\n The initial consumer offering will not spare many of the 1.5 billion pigs raised and slaughtered every year worldwide,\u00a0 or the 132 million pigs raised and slaughtered per year in the U.S.,\u00a0 but the technology could eventually put the whole factory-farmed pork industry out of business \u2013\u2013if consumers buy that pork need not be produced in a living pig through a hellacious combination of cruelty with noxious pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cItalian restaurant Fiorella, \u00a0which has four locations in San Francisco, \u00a0will serve the products on its menu as part of the launch campaign,\u201d\u00a0 wrote San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> food and wine reporter Mario Cortez.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe company also has plans to distribute its products like meatballs with an Italian herb mix and a bacon described as applewood-smoked to Sprouts Farmers Market locations,\u201d\u00a0 Cortez said,\u00a0 but added,\u00a0 \u201cThe company did not provide a date by which they would be available or a suggested retail price.<\/p>\n \u201cOther lab-grown meats, \u00a0all chicken, \u00a0have appeared on menus at restaurants as part of special events, \u00a0but have never been sold in stores,\u201d\u00a0 Cortez noted,\u00a0 mentioning \u201cCultivated chicken producers Upside Foods in Berkeley and Alameda\u2019s Good Meat,\u00a0 from the company behind the chicken egg substitute Just Egg.\u201d<\/p>\n The Upside Foods and Good Meat products were cleared for sale in 2022 and 2023,\u00a0 respectively,\u00a0 but have been slow to compete for consumer market share.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Francisco\u2019s Michelin-starred Bar Crenn was the first to offer cultivated chicken on a menu, \u00a0serving Upside Foods at special tastings in 2023. \u00a0It discontinued them the following year,\u201d\u00a0 Cortez said.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Previewed Elaine Watson for AgFunder News<\/em> on August 15,\u00a0 2024,\u00a0 \u201cFounded in 2018 by former Eat Just scientist Eitan Fischer, \u00a0Mission Barns grows cultivated pork fat in proprietary bioreactors it claims can dramatically improve the efficiency of the production process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fat is then combined with plant-based proteins to create meat alternatives such as sausages and bacon.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike some other startups in the field,\u201d\u00a0 Watson explained, \u00a0\u201cMission Barns is not genetically engineering naturally adherent cells that need to attach to something to grow,\u00a0 so they can grow in standard stir-tank bioreactors in liquid suspension.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Instead,\u00a0 Mission Barns vice president of technology Saam Shahrokhi told Watson,\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re engineering systems to [work with] the cells, \u00a0rather than engineering cells to work with traditional systems [bioreactors]. \u00a0Existing bioreactors can\u2019t be used to effectively produce non-genetically modified cultivated muscle and fat.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cells are also a bit easier to work with,\u201d\u00a0 Shahrokhi added, \u00a0\u201cas opposed to cells that become muscle cells. \u00a0Right now, \u00a0we\u2019re focused on pig fat, \u00a0but the advantage of our bioreactor is that it\u2019s cell line agnostic, \u00a0so a lot of the process development we do is applicable to fat of all kinds of species. \u00a0The bioreactor can also be used for muscle cells.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Finished Watson,\u00a0 \u201cAs to whether existing alt meat brands would want to compromise their 100% plant-based credentials by using cultivated animal fat, \u00a0even if no animals were harmed in its production, \u00a0\u00a0Shahrokhi said: \u00a0\u2018I think we\u2019re talking about creating a new category. \u00a0For most consumers [who are not vegan or vegetarian], \u00a0what matters is that food tastes delicious,\u00a0 and is ideally good for them, sustainable and humane.\u201d<\/p>\n Posted Mission Barns itself to its website on September 9, 2024,\u00a0 \u201cAs the alternative protein industry continues to innovate and expand, many companies have centered their efforts on perfecting beef and chicken. \u00a0The reasons for this focus may be that beef is the largest livestock contributor to climate change, \u00a0while chicken is the most consumed meat in many major markets, with demand steadily growing.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, few companies are working on providing alternatives to conventional pork.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mission Barns argued that producing lab-grown pork should be a priority because,\u00a0 \u201cPork is the world\u2019s favorite meat.<\/p>\n \u201cCultivating pork through cellular agriculture, \u00a0rather than raising livestock, \u00a0eliminates the risk of spreading zoonotic diseases and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.\u201d<\/p>\n And,\u00a0 \u201cCultivated pork can address the market gap in pork alternatives. \u00a0Pork products, especially those rich in fat like bacon, have unique flavor profiles and textures that are beloved by consumers. \u00a0However, \u00a0replicating these characteristics with plant-based ingredients has proven challenging. \u00a0This gap in the market signifies a substantial opportunity for companies like Mission Barns.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The introduction of a commercially marketed lab-grown pork product \u201cis an important step for the nascent field of cellular agriculture,\u201d\u00a0 assessed Slaughter-Free America<\/em> blogger Jon Hochschartner,<\/p>\n \u201cStill, \u00a0Mission Barns\u2019 \u00a0need to mix their cultivated pork fat with plant-based offerings, to make the former economically viable,\u201d\u00a0 Hochschartner wrote, \u00a0\u201cunderlines how much further technological progress is required.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I\u2019m very excited about the impending release of Mission Barns\u2019 cultivated pork fat,\u201d\u00a0 Hochschartner emphasized, \u00a0\u201cthat it can\u2019t be sold as part of a wholly cultivated product demonstrates the need for more research in the field.<\/p>\nMission Barns bets salami eaters won\u2019t know their lab-grown pork butts from fat meat<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFDA approval<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nNo release date or price yet<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLab-grown pork is combined with plant-based proteins<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTurning conventional lab-grown process around<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cCreating a new category\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cPork is the world\u2019s favorite meat\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cAn important step\u201d<\/h2>\n