Following an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for labeling cell-based meat products issued in September, the issue has been placed on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) list of “long-term actions” – meaning the agency does not intend to have a regulatory action within the next 12 months.

This is despite food tech companies’ eagerness to bring cell-cultured meat to the market. A California-based company recently developed what it claims to be a significantly less expensive method to produce edible beef cells and anticipates lowering that cost further at scale.

Through the ANPR, FSIS received more than 1,200 comments on an array of questions, including whether labeling should differentiate cell-cultured products from products made from traditionally slaughtered animals.