Wildtype Launches First Cultivated Seafood in the US

San Francisco-based Wildtype has made history as the first company to launch cultivated seafood in the United States. This milestone follows the company receiving an FDA ‘no questions’ letter affirming the safety of its cell-cultured salmon.

Regulatory Milestones

With this approval, Wildtype becomes the fourth cultivated-protein producer to conclude a US pre-market scientific and safety consultation. Prior successful consultations were achieved by UPSIDE Foods, GOOD Meat, and Mission Barns. Notably, Wildtype is the third among these to secure full market approval, as Mission Barns is still awaiting the USDA’s final go-ahead for its cultivated fat.

Restaurant Debut

Wildtype will introduce its products at the James Beard award-winning Haitian restaurant Kann located in Portland, Oregon. The launch is set for Thursday evenings in June, with plans to extend availability to daily service starting July, before further expanding into four additional restaurants.

The Production Process

In the U.S., cultivated meat and poultry fall under the regulation of both the FDA and USDA. However, cultivated seafood is solely regulated by the FDA.

According to a May 28 letter from the FDA to Wildtype, the agency stated it had no further inquiries regarding the company’s conclusion that its cultivated salmon is “as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods.”

The FDA’s scientific memo released the same day reveals that Wildtype’s cell lines were developed from mesenchymal cells initially isolated from coho salmon during the fry stage of development at a Washington state hatchery. These cells can differentiate and develop into various cell types, including fat, muscle, and connective tissue.

Production Innovations

Wildtype employs a unique approach to its cultivation process, growing cells in liquid suspension culture that do not require attachment to a surface. The company has streamlined its media formulation, now utilizing Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2) while omitting more expensive components like insulin, IGF, albumin, and transferrin that were present in previous formulations.

“Wildtype’s achievement is a watershed moment for domestic seafood production and for the cultivated protein industry overall. The thoughtful, evidence-driven review proves that innovative food technologies meet the highest safety standards and can play a vital role in healthy American diets while strengthening our food system’s domestic production and resilience.” — Dr. Suzi Gerber, Executive Director, AMPS

Post-Harvest Processing

The FDA memo does not outline how Wildtype shapes and texturizes harvested cells to create products akin to raw salmon. However, it does reference “post-harvest thermal processing” which is designed to deactivate any residual growth factors present in the final product.

Initial analyses indicate the total fat and amino acid content of cultivated salmon is lower than that of conventional coho salmon. This discrepancy is attributed to the lack of protein-rich extracellular structures typical in traditional salmon products. Mineral levels were relatively consistent, with only modest reductions noted in iron, magnesium, potassium, and selenium compared to conventional sources.

Company Background

Founded in late 2016 by cardiologist Dr. Aryé Elfenbein and former diplomat Justin Kolbeck, Wildtype stands out as one of the most well-funded startups in the cultivated meat and seafood sector. To date, it has successfully raised over $123 million from prominent investors, including L Catterton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bezos Expeditions, Temasek, S2G Ventures Oceans and Seafood Fund, Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition, and Cargill.

Further Reading:

• The death of cultivated meat has been greatly exaggerated, says report as Vow predicts it will soon be ‘unit margin positive’
• Meatable aims to start construction of pilot-scale cultivated meat facility in Singapore later this year
• GFI: There are ‘no silver bullets to fill funding gaps in cultivated meat’
• Inside the UK cultivated meat regulatory sandbox with Mosa Meat, Hoxton Farms, and BlueNalu