US FDA greenlights Wildtype’s cell-cultured salmon as its products hit restaurant menus

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has greenlit sales of Wildtype’s cell-cultured salmon.

The San Fransico, California, U.S.A.-based cell-cultured salmon startup has garnered significant investments from a range of companies and celebrities since it opened the doors to its pilot production facility. Now, the company said its cell-cultured products are on the menu at Kann in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., with sales currently occurring every Thursday and moving to daily sales starting in July. 

The company said its cell-cultured salmon will also be sold at four additional restaurants soon.

Wildtype first submitted an FDA safety assessment and supporting information on 27 June 2022. Following that initial submission, it submitted a number of amendments in 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

“Based on the safety assessment Wildtype has conducted, it is our understanding that Wildtype has concluded that foods comprised of or containing the cultured cellular material resulting from the production process defined in CCC [cell-cultured consultation] 000005 are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods and would not contain substances that adulterate the food,” the FDA wrote in its findings letter.  “Wildtype notes the harvested cell material will present the same allergenicity concerns to consumers who may be allergic to conventional salmon. The firm states that it will address concerns regarding allergenicity of the harvested cell material through product labeling. In summary, we did not identify any properties of the cells as described that would render them different from other animal cells with respect to safety for food use.”

The FDA said that based on its evaluation of Wildtype’s production process, it has no further questions on whether the product is safe.

The FDA first approved cell-cultured animal protein for human consumption in 2022, granting Upside Foods a “No Questions” letter.

The latest approval for Wildtype comes as some U.S. states are trying to ban, or have already banned, all sales of cell-cultured products.

The U.S. state of Florida introduced a bill in 2023 to ban all sales of the products, which was later passed in 2024. A lawsuit against that bill is still making its way through court. Multiple other states, including Montana, Nebraska, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Wyoming, have also either passed or are working on bills to ban sales of cell-cultured protein. 

Wildtype said it fought against Florida’s bill and called banning the products fear-mongering.