A video shared on Facebook in October 2026 says 'lab-grown eggs' have been federally approved and that Walmart and Target already sell them. It calls the product 'factory fungus' buried in packaged foods and shows packaging for OvoPro, an ingredient made by The EVERY Company. The story is older than the video: Snopes examined versions of it in August and October 2026, and the Mexican fact-checker El Sabueso reviewed a Spanish-language video naming Walmart on 25 August.

The retail part of the claim is supported by the manufacturer's own statements. Almost everything else in it is wrong or misleading.

What the record shows about Walmart and Target

• In November 2025, Green Queen reported that EVERY's egg protein was featured in a product stocked at all U.S. Walmart stores.
• In February 2026, chief executive Arturo Elizondo told the same outlet that OvoPro was an ingredient in products sold at Walmart, Target and Amazon.
• In a press release dated 15 June 2026, the company attributed a surge in orders partly to 'national placement in Target and Walmart'.

All three statements come from the company. It keeps its customers and their products confidential, so the specific items cannot be identified, and we found no public statement from Walmart or Target. The video's assertion that two or more such products sit on Walmart's shelves could not be verified.

One consumer product is known by name: a protein powder sold by the brand Healthier Comforts that is made entirely of OvoPro, launched in early 2026. Reporting on it mentions the brand's website and an Amazon listing. We found no evidence that it is stocked at Walmart or Target.

Not an egg, and not 'lab-grown' in the usual sense

OvoPro is a powder, not an egg. The FDA's response letter on the ingredient describes it as mainly recombinant ovalbumin, the principal egg-white protein, produced by a genetically engineered yeast, Komagataella phaffii, in controlled fermentation. The yeast cells are then removed, the protein is purified and dried, and according to the company the production organism is not detected in the final product. It is intended as a substitute for egg white or whole egg in foods such as baked goods, noodles, bars and dressings.

'Lab-grown' normally describes cultivated meat, which is grown from animal cells. No animal cells are involved here, and Snopes left open whether the label applies at all. The video's 'mold' is a yeast.

Not 'federally approved'

The FDA did not approve OvoPro. Under its GRAS notification programme, the agency told the company it had 'no questions at this time' about the company's own conclusion that the protein is generally recognized as safe. The letter, which Snopes dates to October 2023, states that it is not an affirmation of GRAS status.

Not hidden from labels

The same FDA letter says each ingredient must be declared by its common or usual name, and that this protein requires allergen labeling because it contains protein derived from egg. The company's own filing acknowledges that it is likely to trigger reactions in people with egg allergy. Snopes found no evidence of brands omitting it, and the company said it had sought no exemption. El Sabueso reached the same conclusion: the ingredient appears in certain processed foods and is labeled as such.

There is one real nuance. The FDA did not rule on what the ingredient should be called, and the brand name OvoPro need not appear. According to the Dallas Express, EVERY recommends wording such as animal-free egg white protein, but the final label is set by the company selling the food. A shopper will see an egg-protein ingredient and an egg allergen statement, but may not be able to tell from the label alone that it was made by fermentation.

Not new

Snopes found that EVERY's animal-free egg proteins have been in U.S. consumer products since at least 2021, and that other companies sell similar ingredients.

Verdict

Half true. By the manufacturer's repeated public account, products containing its yeast-fermented egg-white protein are sold at Walmart and Target, although neither retailer nor any product has been independently confirmed. Calling these 'lab-grown eggs' is misleading: the ingredient is a purified protein powder, it was not 'approved' by federal regulators in the sense the video implies, and it must be declared on labels as an egg allergen.