Mission Barns Announces Cell-Cultivated Pork Fat Launch Following FDA Clearance

Mission Barns, a food company focused on cultivating meat for a more secure food system, announced its upcoming retail launch and restaurant partnership for its first products for sale. This milestone follows the company’s regulatory clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cell-cultivated pork fat.

Fiorella, an Italian restaurant group in the San Francisco area, is Mission Barns’ first restaurant launch partner. Mission Barns also plans to sell in retail starting at a national supermarket chain, which will become the first grocery store in the U.S. to sell cultivated meat, according to the company.

“Food security and the health of our food system is a big challenge we are tackling at Mission Barns,” said Eitan Fischer, founder and CEO of Mission Barns. “We are expecting 1.7 billion more humans on our planet in the next 25 years, and we need to innovate in order to find more efficient ways to produce delicious food products to feed the world. First and foremost, consumers won’t eat food that isn’t absolutely delicious — which is why we chose to pursue a fat-first approach. Not only is fat the main driver of flavor and juiciness, but it is also less costly and faster to produce than lean meat. We believe in giving consumers more choice — people looking for delicious, healthy and responsibly produced meat are excited to try our products. By advancing cultivated meat production, we are helping to create a more resilient and reliable food system and reinforcing American leadership in food innovation.”

Mission Barns’ flagship products, Italian Style Cultivated Meatballs and Applewood Smoked Cultivated Bacon, are made with cultivated pork fat and plant protein, requiring a single animal component — a sample taken from a pig — which is grown using plant-based nutrients in a cultivator. One sample could produce the same amount of meat as millions of farm animals, enabling the company to improve food security and create a world with fewer greenhouse gas emissions, reduced land and water usage and free from animal harm — while mitigating risks associated with disease outbreaks in livestock, said Mission Barns.

“From the ability to source some of my favorite local ingredients to the prices on our menus, the vulnerability of our global food supply chain impacts every aspect of my business,” said Brandon Gillis, co-founder at Fiorella. “I’ve been keeping tabs on the cultivated meat industry as a potential solution, and after meeting with Mission Barns and tasting its products, I wanted to make sure we created a partnership for this historic moment.”

Mission Barns said it is the first company in the world to receive regulatory clearance for cell-cultivated pork fat, following previous clearances issued for cultivated chicken. In its response, the FDA stated that it had no further questions regarding Mission Barns’ conclusion that products made with its cultivated pork fat “are as safe as comparable foods.”