Campbell's denies using 3D-printed or lab-grown meat after executive's alleged comments

[midian182]

WTF?! Campbell's has been forced to confirm that its soups are not made with 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat. The company's statement comes after an executive was allegedly caught on tape saying its meat "came from a 3D printer" and its food was "sh*t for f**king poor people."

The allegation comes from a lawsuit filed against Campbell's last week by Robert Garza. The security analyst joined Campbell's New Jersey headquarters remotely in September 2024.

Garza claims he was fired in January after raising concerns with executives over racist remarks made by IT VP Martin Bally.

Garza says he recorded the conversation with Bally. "Even in a can of soup, I look at it – and look at bioengineered meat," the person in the recording says. "I don't want to eat a f**king piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer, do you?"

"It's not healthy now that I know what the f**k's in it … bioengineered meat," the person said, before launching a tirade about Campbell's employees of Indian heritage.

The case led to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announcing that his office is investigating allegations that Campbell's Soup Co. uses bioengineered meat in its soups. Florida became the first state to ban the selling, manufacturing, or distribution of lab-grown or "cultivated meat" in 2024.

Florida law bans lab-grown meat.

Our Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation and will demand answers from Campbell's. https://t.co/9nDO0EbDwH

– Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) November 24, 2025

Campbell's has since responded with a new page on its website emphasizing that the chicken meat in its soups comes from long-trusted, USDA approved US suppliers and meets our high-quality standards, and contains no antibiotics.

"Our soup contains real chicken meat, from real farms, made with real care, just like it always has," the company wrote.

"The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate – they are patently absurd," Campbell's said in a statement. It added that the alleged comments were made by a person in IT, who has nothing to do with how the company makes its food.

Garza claims Bally made the comments after the pair met in a restaurant to discuss his salary in 2024. He says he was fired weeks after complaining about the incident.

Campbell's has put Bally on leave while it investigates the alleged comments.

3D-printed food isn't new. You might remember that KFC announced it would be making artificial chicken nuggets for its restaurant of the future concept back in 2020. The fried chicken franchise partnered with Moscow-based company 3D Bioprinting Solutions to create an artificial chicken nugget in the laboratory.

The 3D-printed chicken, which used a mixture of chicken cells and plant material, was never launched at KFC's restaurants.

Image credit: Kelly Common

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Campbell's denies using 3D-printed or lab-grown meat after executive's alleged comments

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Honestly Campbell's should lean into it because at least it excuses the flavor and lack of, you know, meat in their soups.

Once you start making your own soup, trying to drink the unpalatable brine that comes out of some of these premade cans is impossible.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Crazy person says crazy things!

But, yes, processed food isn’t good for you. It’s not so much the real (cheap) ingredients so much as the extra things added.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

But....but...it's M'm! M'm! Good!

I much prefer making chicken noodle soup from scratch - better ingredients and tastes better. Campbell's stuff tastes way too salty and with all the salt it still lacks flavor.

 

[NumberNine]

Well I mean, it's not great soup. That much is true.

 

[Dreadcthulhu]

So I looked up the ingredients for Campbells Chicken Noodle soup (and if they are lying here, well please let some class action lawyers know):

Chicken Stock, Enriched Egg Noodles (Wheat Flour, Eggs, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Chicken Meat, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Chicken Fat, Water, Monosodium Glutamate, Cornstarch, Modified Cornstarch, Natural Flavoring, Dried Chicken Broth, Sugar, Beta Carotene For Color, Onion Powder, Soy Protein Isolate, Sodium Phosphate, Yeast Extract, Dried Chicken, Garlic Extract.

It would be nice to know what exactly the "natural flavoring" is, but other than that I don't see anything particularly objectable in there.

 

[Vanderlinde]

So I looked up the ingredients for Campbells Chicken Noodle soup (and if they are lying here, well please let some class action lawyers know):

Chicken Stock, Enriched Egg Noodles (Wheat Flour, Eggs, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Chicken Meat, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Chicken Fat, Water, Monosodium Glutamate, Cornstarch, Modified Cornstarch, Natural Flavoring, Dried Chicken Broth, Sugar, Beta Carotene For Color, Onion Powder, Soy Protein Isolate, Sodium Phosphate, Yeast Extract, Dried Chicken, Garlic Extract.

It would be nice to know what exactly the "natural flavoring" is, but other than that I don't see anything particularly objectable in there.

Bro. Lmfao.

as if americans are too lazy to make, their own soup instead of coming from cans. What is wrong with people? Take a 15 minute course into making your own soup with fresh products, and you will never ever be touching stuff that's genetically messed around with.

A normal soup does not have all those ingredients. There's no need for supplements, additives. God no wonder the majority of people are getting more coo-coo every year - it's purely because of the stuff they put into foods.

 

[seeprime]

I think that dude was drunk and confused ultraprocessed (balony style) "chicken" with printed chicken. They're probably equally nasty, though.

 

[SRB]

My problem with all of this is the giant umbrella of "ultra processed" Milk is "ultra processed" It's gathered by a milking machine, pumped to a truck, pumped to a pasteurizing tank, then cooled in a refrigerator and "packaged".

Add to that that the slightest trace of ANYTHING added qualifies it as well, and I could not achieve these goals without drastically changing what I eat and blowing up my food bill exponentially.

I wish for the days that when an influencer publishes a low confidence study on the dangers of x, it becomes just another weapon in the arsenal of the 1000% "natural food only" crowd.

While were at it, not everything that is "all natural" is good for you as well.

What happened to the days where real science would call balls and strikes? It may never have been perfect, but it's probably more accurate than many of these crusades.

 

[protodeus]

Bovine fetal serum is more expensive than almost any kind of meat (excluding extreme delicacies) so you will never find lab grown meat as a stealth ingredient. But logic seems to be a dying faculty these days....

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Maybe we'll come to this one day: "Eat recycled food. It's good for the environment and okay for you" As quoted from the Judge Dredd 1995 movie.

But if I need a quick fix, Cambell's is ok.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I mean....I dont understand why people would jump to lab grown meat. Lab meat is STUPID expensive. Why would it be in the "poor people" food? And why would it be bad anyway? Lab grown meat doesnt require the anitbiotic use that real animals do.

As usual, people absolutely freaking out over things they dont understand in a moral outrage crusade.

Bro. Lmfao.

as if americans are too lazy to make, their own soup instead of coming from cans. What is wrong with people? Take a 15 minute course into making your own soup with fresh products, and you will never ever be touching stuff that's genetically messed around with.

A normal soup does not have all those ingredients. There's no need for supplements, additives. God no wonder the majority of people are getting more coo-coo every year - it's purely because of the stuff they put into foods.

Given the frothing rage non Americans fly into when it comes to anything that happens here, clearly the "coo-coo" isnt food related.

Your home made soup isnt lasting 6 months in a can, and if you've ever canned anything....you know that scary sounding names of preservatives are not that scary.

Remember - 100% of people who die every year have high concentrations of dihydrogen monoxide!

 

[Axeia]

What happened to the days where real science would call balls and strikes? It may never have been perfect, but it's probably more accurate than many of these crusades.

It's because the system is broken top-down. The FDA let's many things pass that are unacceptable in the rest of the world. But it's also just peoples expectations in the US, 'wonderbread' stays good for how long? If even mold still doesn't want to eat your bread after a week or so... you shouldn't be eating it either.

Robert F Kennedy sounds insane on some things but at least for a lot of his food points it seems there's some things that'll be changed for the better like banning 'Red 40' - no one should have that in their food. For whatever reason I like watching videos peoples experiences with food and there's plenty of content with:
Americans going to Europe and feeling a lot better and even losing weight whilst eating basically the same or even gorging on desserts because they're on vacation - and they end feeling less bloated/tired.
Europeans moving to the US or Americans returning to the US after an extended period in Europe and then gaining weight and feeling worse. Part of it will be the car centric culture, part of it will be the food I imagine.

Tip for the Americans: If you have an Aldi nearby (There's like 2600 of them), even in the US they stick to the (much stricter) EU food regulations. Probably the cheapest easily accessible healthy food you'll find in the US.

 

[p51d007]

So I looked up the ingredients for Campbells Chicken Noodle soup (and if they are lying here, well please let some class action lawyers know):

Chicken Stock, Enriched Egg Noodles (Wheat Flour, Eggs, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Chicken Meat, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Chicken Fat, Water, Monosodium Glutamate, Cornstarch, Modified Cornstarch, Natural Flavoring, Dried Chicken Broth, Sugar, Beta Carotene For Color, Onion Powder, Soy Protein Isolate, Sodium Phosphate, Yeast Extract, Dried Chicken, Garlic Extract.

It would be nice to know what exactly the "natural flavoring" is, but other than that I don't see anything particularly objectable in there.

Look at the ingredients list for most food products in the USA, then look at the same item, in a lot of other countries.
Most other countries DO NOT allow a lot of the pre-processed garbage, in American food items.

 

[Vanderlinde]

Your home made soup isnt lasting 6 months in a can, and if you've ever canned anything....you know that scary sounding names of preservatives are not that scary.

Remember - 100% of people who die every year have high concentrations of dihydrogen monoxide!

Put it in portions and freeze it. You be surprised how long it holds.

The point is people should make their own soups and not rely on above garbage with a **** ton of ingredients that do more harm to you then any good long term.

it's already said here but the additives they stuff into every days food in USA is just insane.

 

[Axeia]

Look at the ingredients list for most food products in the USA, then look at the same item, in a lot of other countries.
Most other countries DO NOT allow a lot of the pre-processed garbage, in American food items.

McDonalds Fries are an easy fun example as well. In the US: 14 ingredients,
UK (and I think most places besides the US)
3 or 4 (potatoes, salt , oil and depending on the potato sometimes dextrose).

That's all fries should be salty deep fried potato sticks.
In the US they add things to make them more yellow (and it's not turmeric which would be healthy) and to preserve them longer.

As an additional slap in the face, Instead of sourcing the ingredients from local farms supporting the local economy which they do in the EU/UK they get them from only a few places... Which is probably part of the reason why they add the preservatives.
A US company being better for the local economy and giving the customer a better, healthier product as long as they're not in the US.
It's not like this couldn't be done in the US, there's just no incentive to do so so you end up with a worse product.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

McDonalds Fries are an easy fun example as well. In the US: 14 ingredients,
UK (and I think most places besides the US)
3 or 4 (potatoes, salt , oil and depending on the potato sometimes dextrose).

That's all fries should be salty deep fried potato sticks.
In the US they add things to make them more yellow (and it's not turmeric which would be healthy) and to preserve them longer.

As an additional slap in the face, Instead of sourcing the ingredients from local farms supporting the local economy which they do in the EU/UK they get them from only a few places... Which is probably part of the reason why they add the preservatives.
A US company being better for the local economy and giving the customer a better, healthier product as long as they're not in the US.
It's not like this couldn't be done in the US, there's just no incentive to do so so you end up with a worse product.

McD's fries are awful. Taste like cardboard soaked in oil, absolutely disgusting.

Cut up some potatoes at home, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Dry then off, season them how you like and bake in the oven. So mush better tasting than anything you can buy at any restaurant or fast food joint.