Smells Like Bureaucratic Overreach: FDA Greenlights Lab-Grown Salmon

In a move that reeks of bureaucratic overreach and questionable priorities, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rubber-stamped Wildtype Inc.’s lab-grown salmon, the first of its kind approved for human consumption in the U.S.

Derived from mesenchymal lineage cells and mixed with plant-based goo to mimic sushi-grade saku cuts, this franken-fish is being hailed as a “sustainable” solution to overfishing. 

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is shaking up the public health establishment, firing all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in a bid to root out conflicts of interest and restore trust in vaccine science. 

The contrast couldn’t be starker: one agency pushes untested biotech food on the public, while another tries to clean house of industry-aligned insiders. Welcome to the brave new world of “Gold Standards.”

Wildtype’s cultured salmon, approved in June 2025 under FDA consultation CCC 000005, is grown in bioreactors over four to six weeks, sidestepping nature’s blueprint for a lab-bred alternative. 

The FDA, ever the obedient servant of innovation, claims it’s “as safe as conventional salmon” based solely on Wildtype’s own testing—no independent verification required. Sound familiar? It’s the same cozy relationship between regulators and industry that RFK Jr. is dismantling over at the CDC. 

Posts on X are already buzzing with skepticism, with users like Dr. Kat Lindley are questioning why the FDA is approving lab-grown foods, while others allege the move is a “slick push of untested science.” 

I am so glad I do not like salmon, but the question remains why is the FDA approving lab grown food?!

“according to the FDA, they view lab-grown salmon “as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods,” pic.twitter.com/NtwzAcUnFp

— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) June 11, 2025

No long-term studies, no public trials, just a green light for lab-grown fish paste to hit your plate at trendy spots like Kann in Portland, OR.

Across the hall at HHS, RFK Jr. is taking a flamethrower to the status quo. His “clean sweep” of the ACIP, announced in a fiery Wall Street Journal op-ed, targets a panel he calls a “rubber stamp” for Big Pharma, plagued by conflicts of interest. 

Critics like Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Tina Tan are crying foul, labeling the move “reckless” and warning of eroded trust in public health. 

Taking to X, Offit pinned a post claiming this is just the beginning.

“None of this should be surprising. RFK Jr. will do everything he can to make sure that all vaccines are no longer mandated and to make vaccines less available, less affordable and more feared. This is only the beginning.”

None of this should be surprising. RFK Jr. will do everything he can to make sure that all vaccines are no longer mandated and to make vaccines less available, less affordable and more feared. This is only the beginning.

— Paul Offit (@DrPaulOffit) June 10, 2025

Yet Kennedy’s supporters on X see it as a long-overdue purge of a system rotten with industry ties, pointing to the CDC’s own conflict-of-interest disclosures showing at least one ACIP member recused from vaccine votes due to ties to manufacturers. 

The timing is telling: just weeks after Kennedy axed Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy kids and pregnant women, the entire panel gets the boot before their June 25–27 meeting.

Here’s the rub: while the FDA fast-tracks lab-grown salmon with zero public debate, Kennedy’s overhaul of the ACIP is decried as anti-science. 

The hypocrisy is glaring. The same establishment that cheers biotech fish as “progress” clutches its pearls when RFK Jr. demands transparency from a vaccine panel. 

If you’re wondering how to report harm from Wildtype’s fish, good luck navigating the FDA’s labyrinthine Safety Reporting Portal or tracking down a state complaint coordinator. 

The agency’s happy to approve your cell-cultivated sashimi, but less eager to scrutinize what happens when it hits your gut. Meanwhile, Kennedy’s moves suggest a broader push to question the cozy regulator-industry nexus—something the FDA could use a dose of.

The takeaway is clear: The FDA’s approval of lab-grown salmon and RFK Jr.’s ACIP purge expose the fault lines in America’s health system. One side pushes untested biotech as the future of food, while the other fights to dismantle a corrupted advisory process. 

Consumers are caught in the crossfire, left to wonder if their sushi is safe and whether the experts calling the shots are working for them or the highest bidder.

Me, esp when you can have access to grass fed beef @beefinitiative

“Lab grown meat, or cultured meat, is meat produced by culturing animal cells in a lab. This process involves taking a biopsy of an animal’s muscle tissue, growing the cells in a nutrient-rich medium, and… pic.twitter.com/4owobc1IMl

— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) June 11, 2025

Hold onto your receipts, folks—and for now, it might be wise to stick with wild-caught seafood and clean beef. That’s because all this ultra-processed vegan food can increase the risk of heart disease and early death (read here).