How to Tell If Meat Is 3D Printed, Plant-Based or Lab-Grown

Three words that get mixed up

Plant-based means the product is made from plants. Cultivated meat, which most people call lab-grown, is grown from animal cells, so it is animal meat that was never part of a whole animal. 3D printed just tells you how a product was shaped, layer by layer. It says nothing about what’s inside.

That’s why the headlines are so muddled. A plant-based steak can be 3D printed, so a viral post and the label on the pack can both be right and still describe different things.

What actually launched

Steakholder Foods is an Israeli company founded in 2019. On 3 September 2026 it announced that its Perfecta range had reached shops in the north-eastern United States, distributed through KeHE. The range is a marbled steak, a filet mignon, a chicken breast, and salmon and white fish patties, all sold as plant-based.

In early September, posts started claiming that lab-grown and 3D-printed meat was being sold in US stores and to fast food chains. The 3D printing part holds up. The lab-grown part doesn’t, because Perfecta is plant-based. The boxes on the company’s website say plant-based and don’t mention printing or cultured cells. Nobody has confirmed the fast food claim, and the launch release doesn’t name a single shop.

What to check on the pack

• The front. Plant-based is the word you want for a plant product. Wording about animal cells means cultivated meat.
• The ingredient list. The first few ingredients tell you what it’s made from. If they’re all plants, it’s plant-based, whatever shape it was printed into.
• The allergens. Our Perfecta write-up covers these, including soy and wheat.
• Where you live. Perfecta is only in the north-east of the US so far, so most of us won’t see it on a shelf yet.

The labelling question nobody’s answered

According to a Black America Web report that cites Snopes, FDA and USDA rules require a label on lab-grown meat made from cultured animal cells. Perfecta sits outside that rule because it’s plant-based. The same report says Snopes asked the FDA whether similar rules cover other cultured cells, like plant cells, and whether Perfecta has federal approval. It doesn’t report an answer, so that part is still open.

Quick questions

Is 3D printed meat real meat?

Perfecta isn’t. It’s plant-based. Printing is only the shaping method, so the pack is what tells you what’s in a printed product.

Is Perfecta lab-grown?

No. It’s sold as plant-based and the company’s boxes don’t say it contains cultured cells.

Where can I buy it?

Shops across the north-eastern US, through KeHE. No specific stores have been named.

Is it safe to eat?

We cover safety, approvals and state rules in Is 3D Printed Meat Safe to Eat?

Related: 3D printed meat in US supermarkets: fact check, Is supermarket meat 3D printed?, 3D printed vs lab-grown vs plant-based meat