According to Food Navigator, the North American Meat
Institute—the oldest and largest meat lobby group in the U.S.—is joining forces
with clean
meat company Memphis Meats. Today the two organizations sent a joint letter
to President Donald Trump calling for “regulatory clarity as clean meat, or
“cell-based meat, as the two organizations are now calling it, gets closer to
commercialization.
The letter sent to the White House states that
existing law and practice, along with “longstanding precedent, shows that the FDA
and the USDA both have key roles to play when it comes to bringing cell-based
meat to market. The letter expresses that the two parties believe it would be
in both of their best interests if the president allowed the FDA to oversee
premarket safety testing and the USDA to handle matters thereafter.
As reported by Agri-Pulse, the letter states:
Such a regulatory framework is not new and plays into the strengths and experience of FDA and USDA. FDA has extensive expertise regarding products produced using cell culture technology and USDA has a longstanding role in inspecting meat and poultry products.
Additionally, the North American Meat
Institute and Memphis Meats agreed to use “cell-based meat and poultry as the
proper terminology for these products and called for a meeting with the White
House, USDA, FDA, and conventional and cell-based meat industry stakeholders.
While this is the first time the two
industries are partnering on the regulatory level, it’s not the first time
they’ve collaborated. Earlier this year, Tyson Foods, the largest poultry producer in the world,
invested in Memphis Meats. This was the second time a major meat
producer had backed the company. The first was Cargill, which made history last
year with its landmark investment. Memphis Meats is known
for creating real beef burgers without cows and the world’s first chicken and duck meat without animal
slaughter.
Those of us who have switched to a plant-based
diet know that vegan foods are incredibly satisfying. The fact remains,
however, that most people still eat meat, so these clean meat products can
provide a humane, sustainable, and affordable alternative.
We
wholeheartedly believe that this could completely transform the way the world
eats and spare billions of animals a lifetime of suffering.
Animals raised and killed for food are treated
as mere objects, and their short lives are filled with violence and pain.
Cows, pigs, chickens, and fish are subjected to a lifetime of confinement,
mutilation, torture, and slaughter.
Fortunately, cell-based meat products can
change all this. People will enjoy meat without contributing to horrific
suffering.
But you don’t have to wait for clean meat to
hit the market to start helping animals. Join the millions of people who have
already switched to a compassionate, sustainable, and healthy plant-based diet. Click here
to get started. And check out our Pinterest
page for thousands of plant-based recipe ideas!