Campbell’s Forced to Deny 3D-Printed Chicken Rumors

A Fired VP Started the Whole Thing

Campbell’s has been selling canned soup for over 150 years.

Now the company has a webpage answering a question nobody expected: “Is Campbell’s chicken 3D-printed? ” The answer is no.

But the fact that they had to say it at all tells you how strange this story got.

It started with a secret recording, a fired employee, and a vice president who allegedly called the company’s products “shit for poor people.”

The audio went viral, a lawsuit followed, and Florida launched an investigation.

A VP Gets Recorded for 75 Minutes

In November 2024, Robert Garza, a cybersecurity analyst from Monroe, Michigan, met with VP Martin Bally at a restaurant to discuss his salary.

Garza said he trusted his “instinct that something wasn’t right with Martin” and secretly hit record. What followed was an hour-long tirade that had nothing to do with compensation.

The recording lasted more than 75 minutes and captured comments that would eventually cost Bally his job.

Bally Claims the Chicken Is 3D-Printed

In the recording, Bally allegedly says: “Even in a can of soup, I look at it and look at bioengineered meat. I don’t want to eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer, do you?”

Bally worked in the company’s information technology department and had no connection to how the soup is actually made. But the claim spread fast once the audio went public, forcing Campbell’s into damage control mode.

He Mocks Customers Who Buy the Product

The recording also captured Bally allegedly saying: “We have shit for poor people. Who buys our shit? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what’s in it.”

He allegedly admitted to using marijuana edibles before coming to work. The comments painted a picture of an executive with open contempt for the company’s core customers.

The Recording Contains Racist Remarks

Bally allegedly made derogatory comments about Indian employees, saying “Indians don’t know a thing” and “they couldn’t think for themselves.”

According to the lawsuit, the comments included derogatory remarks about coworkers in addition to the statements about products and customers.

Garza said he felt “pure disgust” after the meeting and kept the recording for weeks before deciding what to do.

Garza Reports It and Loses His Job

Garza informed his manager about Bally’s comments on January 10, 2025. According to the lawsuit, he wasn’t encouraged to report the incident to human resources.

He was then “abruptly terminated from employment” shortly afterward.

Garza’s attorney said his client “had never had any disciplinary action, they had never written him up for work performance. ” It took him 10 months to find another job.

The Lawsuit Drops and Audio Goes Viral

Garza filed suit on November 20, 2025, in Wayne County Circuit Court in Michigan. The lawsuit names Campbell’s, Bally, and supervisor J. D. Aupperle as defendants and alleges wrongful termination and retaliation.

Campbell’s said it “learned of the litigation and first heard segments of the audio on November 20, 2025” and that neither Garza nor his lawyer had ever notified them that a recording existed.

Campbell’s Fires Bally Five Days Later

“After a review, we believe the voice on the recording is in fact Martin Bally,” Campbell’s said in a statement. “The comments were vulgar, offensive and false, and we apologize for the hurt they have caused.”

As of November 25, Bally was no longer employed by the company.

“The fact that they have now taken the steps they have and fired Martin this quickly shows they should have investigated it when Robert first reported it,” Garza’s attorney said.

Florida Opens a State Investigation

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that “Florida law bans lab-grown meat” and that “our Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation and will demand answers from Campbell’s.”

Florida became the first state to ban the sale, manufacturing, or distribution of lab-grown meat in 2024, and six states have since followed.

The investigation added a new layer of pressure on Campbell’s to prove its chicken is real.

3D-Printed Meat Is Real, Just Not Here

In 2023, UPSIDE Foods and Good Meat became the first USDA-approved cell-cultivated chicken producers in the United States. The process starts with extracting cells from an animal’s tissue and growing them in bioreactors.

The final product can involve extrusion cooking, molding, or 3D printing. But don’t expect to find it in supermarkets anytime soon.

Both companies started with slow rollouts at high-end restaurants. The technology exists, but it’s nowhere near canned soup prices.

Campbell’s Posts a Full FAQ in Response

Campbell’s created a webpage stating: “We do not use 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups.”

The company says its chicken comes from “long-trusted, USDA approved U. S. suppliers” and is made with “No Antibiotics Ever” chicken meat.

The page also explains that “bioengineered food ingredients” on the label refers to genetically modified crops like corn and soybeans, not chicken.

The Lawsuit Is Just Getting Started

Campbell’s says Garza was fired “for good reason” and that he was an employee for less than five months. Garza says the company’s motto of treating employees “like family” didn’t hold up.

“That’s not the case,” he told reporters. The lawsuit is pending in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Campbell’s 154-year reputation now depends partly on convincing people that its chicken is exactly what it’s always been: real chicken, from real farms, in a real can.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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