By Leah Douglas

Two companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, can sell cell-cultivated meat to U.S. consumers for the first time after the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted them final approval on Wednesday, the companies said.

The companies are the first to complete a multi-step approval process for cultivated meat that involves signoff from both the USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

With the approval, the United States will become the second country in the world, after Singapore, to allow the retail sale of the product, which is derived from a sample of livestock cells that are fed and grown in steel vats.

"It is a dream come true," said Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside, in an interview. "It marks a new era."

(Reporting by Leah Douglas; editing by Jonathan Oatis)