Fact Check: Does Aldi sell bacon from Appleton Meats grown in a lab? Viral claim debunked

A claim went viral on Facebook stating the supermarket chain Aldi does not source their bacon from pigs. Instead, the company sources them from lab-grown cells by Appleton Meats. Several users posted the viral message on Facebook over the last week. As per the claim:

“Appleton Meats is currently a privately funded company exploring multiple cellular agricultural methods for growing ground beef, chicken, and mouse-meat cat treats. The company has performed the primary research required to translate cellular agricultural theories and laboratory research into commercially available cellular agricultural products.”

The post continued that founder Sid Deen of Appleton Meats is said to have been looking at the ability to grow all types of cells and produce viable meat from them. Some of these Facebook posts added an edited note at the end, stating that the lab-grown meat from cells has not yet made its way to the US.

According to the claim, however, Sid Deen aims to serve their lab-grown meat to the Canadian cellular agricultural market, as well as expand their business in the United States.

However, this viral claim is false, as Aldi has no affiliation with the Vancouver-based biotechnology meat company. The supermarket chain sources its bacon, salami, ham, and prosciutto from Massachusetts-based Appleton Farms' store brand.

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Aldi does not source its bacon from Appleton Meats, but from Appleton Farms

A picture of a packaged premium sliced bacon was attached to the viral Facebook posts. In the photograph, Appleton Farms’ logo was also visible. Products sold by the brand are not sourced from lab-grown cells but from real animals from their farms. A spokesperson for Aldi also confirmed:

“Our Appleton Farms products are not produced through cultivated lab practices.”

Moreover, Appleton Meats is one of the names on a list of companies on Crunchbase.com, that have been closed. Thus, it appears that the Canadian cell-based meat company might not be in business currently.

On Crunchbase.com, Appleton Meats is said to have been founded in 2016, by Sid D. Deen. The company’s vision was to re-imagine the way meat is produced. It attempted to achieve a future where animals will not be harvested or farmed for animal protein. A note on Appleton Meats’ page on Crunchbase.com added:

“They achieve our aims by harnessing the power of science and our collective imagination and explore meat at its most basic and elemental form: the cellular level. Harnessing the power ofcellular biology, we attempt to drive the production of meat in an external environment.”

Despite Aldi having no association with Appleton Meats, the copied and pasted Facebook post appeared to have come from a webpage about the Canadian company on Golden Research Engine — an online database.

Appleton Farms, the original source of bacon sold at Aldi, debunked the rumor on their Facebook page. Some people seemingly reached out to the company and informed them about the recent posts on meat production. Appleton Farms clarified:

“The company in question, although shares a similar name, is not associated with The Trustees' Appleton Farms in any way. We also do not have any type of partnership with Aldi and do not distribute to any grocers.”

Appleton Farms also confirmed that their animals are pasture-raised and rotationally grazed.