Does Campbell’s Soup Use Bioengineered Chicken?
- Rex Ballard
- Dec 1, 2025
- 4 min read
December 1, 2025
CAMDEN, N.J. – A bombshell leaked audio recording has plunged the Campbell Soup Company into crisis, sparking nationwide outrage, a trending boycott, and an active investigation by the Florida Attorney General. The recording featured an hour-long rant, secretly recorded in 2024, and made public last week. It allegedly features a senior Campbell executive trashing the company’s own products and claiming its chicken comes from “bioengineered meat” or is “3D-printed.”
Campbell has categorically denied the ingredient accusations, fired the executive within 48 hours of the tape surfacing, and published an aggressive fact-checking page insisting its soups contain only “100% real chicken” from USDA-approved U.S. suppliers. Multiple independent fact-checking analyses and major news outlets have since examined the allegations and concluded that claims of 3D-printed, lab-grown, or bioengineered chicken in Campbell products are false.
The Executive and the Tape
The voice on the recording has reportedly been identified by Campbell’s Soup and multiple media outlets as Martin Bally, who until last week was the company’s Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer. Campbell’s reports that Bally served in an IT leadership role with zero involvement in product development, sourcing, production or food safety.
In the recording, taken during what Bally believed was a private dinner at a Monroe, Michigan restaurant, the executive can be heard saying:
“We have s**t for f**king poor people. Who buys our s**t? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f**k’s in it.”
“Even in a can of soup — I look at it, and look at bioengineered meat… I don’t want to eat a f**king piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer, do you?”
The tape also contains racially charged remarks about Bally’s Indian colleagues, admissions of past cocaine use, and boasts about retaliating against subordinates.
The recording was submitted as evidence in a wrongful-termination and retaliation lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court (Michigan) by Robert Garza, a former Campbell cybersecurity analyst who says he was fired in January 2025 after raising concerns about Bally’s behavior.
Campbell confirmed the authenticity of Bally’s voice on November 25 and announced he “is no longer employed by the company.” Bally has made no public statement.
Campbell’s Defense: “Patently Absurd and Completely False”
Within hours of the audio going viral, Campbell issued a series of statements calling the ingredient claims “patently absurd” and “inaccurate.” On November 29, the company launched a dedicated webpage titled “Campbell’s Soups: The Facts About Our Chicken”, which states:
“The chicken meat used in our soups comes from long-trusted, USDA-approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high-quality standards. All of our soups are made with No-Antibiotics-Ever chicken meat.”
“We do not use 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bio-engineered meat in our soups. We use 100% real chicken.”
The “bio-engineered food ingredients” disclosure on labels refers only to common GMO crops (corn, soy, canola, sugar beets) used in broth or seasoning – not the chicken itself.
A company spokesperson emphasized that Bally, as an IT executive, “has nothing to do with how we make our food.”
Multiple reputable news outlets and fact-checking analyses have independently reviewed the claims and reached the same conclusion: the allegations of artificial or lab-grown chicken are false.
Backlash and Investigation
Despite the swift denials and supportive statements from fact-checking organizations, the damage was done. #BoycottCampbells trended for days on X, TikTok, and Instagram, with influencers dumping cans of soup on camera. On November 24th, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a formal investigation into whether Campbell products sold in the state violate Florida’s 2023 ban on the sale of cultivated (lab-grown) meat. “Floridians deserve to know exactly what is in the food they feed their families,” Uthmeier wrote on X.
As of December 1, the probe remains active, but no lab results or enforcement actions have been disclosed.
Independent Testing: Still None
To date, no independent laboratory has announced testing of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup specifically for synthetic, cultivated, or 3D-printed poultry. The USDA continuously inspects Campbell’s suppliers for safety and authenticity, but those inspections do not include genetic sequencing designed to detect cultured meat.
Consumer watchdog groups such as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have long critiqued Campbell products for sodium and preservative levels, but their databases contain no evidence of artificial chicken or meats.
What Happens Next?
Campbell shares (NASDAQ: CPB) dipped roughly 4% in the two trading days following the leak but have since partially recovered. Analysts describe the incident as a “reputational hit” rather than an existential threat, given the lack of substantiation for the ingredient claims.
For now, the company is banking on USDA oversight, transparent labeling, and the fired executive’s lack of food-science credibility to weather the storm.
Consumers seeking absolute certainty may have to wait for results from the Florida investigation, the Michigan lawsuit, or an enterprising independent lab willing to buy a few cans of Chunky Chicken Noodle and put them under a mass spectrometer.
Until then, Campbell insists: it’s still just chicken – and definitely not from a 3D printer.
References
Campbell Soup Company Official Statement & Fact Sheet (Nov 29, 2025) https://www.campbells.com/newsroom/campbells-soups-the-facts-about-our-chicken
The New York Times – “Campbell Soup Executive Fired After Leaked Recording Surfaces” (Nov 26, 2025) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/business/campbell-soup-leaked-audio.html
CBS News – “Campbell Soup says leaked audio claiming ‘3D-printed chicken’ is false” (Nov 26, 2025) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/campbell-soup-leaked-audio-3d-printed-chicken-false/
Business Insider – “No, Campbell’s Soup does not use lab-grown or 3D-printed chicken” (Nov 26, 2025) https://www.businessinsider.com/campbells-soup-lab-grown-chicken-leak-debunked-2025-11
Fortune – “Campbell Soup scandal: Executive’s ‘bioengineered meat’ claim is false, company says” (Nov 26, 2025) https://fortune.com/2025/11/26/campbell-soup-leaked-audio-lab-grown-chicken-claim-false/
Reuters – “Campbell Soup fires executive after leaked recording” (Nov 26, 2025) https://www.reuters.com/business/campbell-soup-fires-executive-leaked-recording-2025-11-26/
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier Announcement on X (Nov 24, 2025) https://x.com/JamesUthmeierFL/status/1858582938475626752
Robert Garza v. Campbell Soup Company et al., Wayne County Circuit Court, Michigan (Nov 2025 filing)
Environmental Working Group (EWG) Food Scores – Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup https://www.ewg.org/foodscores/products/051000128511-CampbellsCondensedChickenNoodleSoup
USDA National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (effective 2022) https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/be
