- In November 2025, social media posts claimed that Campbell’s Soup used “bioengineered meat” and “3-D printed chicken” in its products, citing an alleged leaked recording of company Vice President Martin Bally.
- Both the claim and the purported audio recording stemmed from a report by WDIV, a local news outlet in Detroit. According to the report, Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee suing the company, recorded what he described as more than an hour-long “rant” by Bally. Garza alleged he was fired after complaining about Bally.
- As of publication, Snopes had not independently verified the authenticity of the audio recording.
- In a Nov. 25 statement, Campbell’s called the claims about its ingredients “false” and “absurd.” The company said it does not use “3-D printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form or artificial or bioengineered meat.”
- Martin Bally, whom Campbell’s described as the company’s vice president of information technology, was placed on temporary leave pending an investigation, the company said.
In November 2025, social media posts claimed (archived here, here, here and here) that Campbell’s Soup used “bioengineered meat” and “3-D printed chicken” in its products, citing an alleged leaked recording of company Vice President Martin Bally.
The posts further claimed that Bally described the company’s products as being for “poor people” and said he rarely buys them because they’re unhealthy. One quote attributed to him stated: “Even in a can of soup, bioengineered meat — I don’t wanna eat a f—ing piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer, you?”
This is just disgusting…
Campbell Soup Company VP Martin Bally Caught on Recording saying their Chicken comes from a 3D Printer and it’s Horrible for you
“We have sh*t for f*cking poor people. I don’t f*king buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s unhealthy, now that I… pic.twitter.com/a3TnZOTiJd
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) November 24, 2025
Multiple Snopes readers emailed us and searched our website to verify if the recording was legitimate, and whether Campbell’s actually uses “bioengineered” or “3-D printed chicken” in its soups.
Both the claim and the purported audio recording stemmed from a report by WDIV (archived), a local news outlet in Detroit, Michigan.
According to the Nov. 20 report (archived), Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee suing the company, recorded what he described as more than an hour-long “rant” by Bally. Garza alleged he was fired after complaining about Bally.
A LinkedIn profile listed Bally as a Campbell’s vice president and chief information security officer (archived) while Campbell’s described him in a Nov. 25 statement (archived) as the company’s vice president of information technology.
In portions of the alleged recording released by WDIV, a person identified as Bally can be heard saying (emphasis ours):
We have s–t for f—ing poor people. Who buys our s–t?
…
I don’t buy f—ing Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f—‘s in it … Bioengineered meat — I don’t wanna eat a f—ing piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer, you?
As of publication, Snopes had not independently verified the authenticity of the audio recording. We reached out to Erika Erickson, the WDIV reporter who worked on the story, to request a copy of the recording and Garza’s contact information, and will update this story if we receive a response.
In another Nov. 25 statement (archived) that Campbell’s directed Snopes to via email, the company called the claims about its ingredients “false” and “absurd.” Campbell’s said it does not use “3-D printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form or artificial or bioengineered meat” in its soups, adding that the chicken it uses “comes from long-trusted, USDA-approved U.S. suppliers” that the company does not allow to use antibiotics.
Snopes contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for comment about the company’s suppliers but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Bioengineered food contains genetic material that has been altered in a lab in ways that couldn’t occur through conventional breeding or naturally in the environment, according to the USDA. Foods and ingredients that meet this definition must include a disclosure on the package or label, the federal agency added.
Campbell’s clarified in its statement that the company’s labeling language about bioengineered ingredients applies to genetically modified crops – not chicken. The company said:
Bioengineered food ingredients refers to genetically modified crops – canola, corn, soybean, sugar beets, etc. that are grown by the vast majority of American farmers. This language on our label refers to ingredients derived from those crops, not chicken.
The company added in its other Nov. 25 statement that the “alleged comments heard on the audio were made by a person in IT, who has nothing to do with how we make our food.”
Bally placed on temporary leave amid investigation
According to the WDIV report, Garza’s lawsuit against Campbell’s alleges “racist remarks, admissions of drug use at work and retaliation after he tried to report it.” Garza reportedly began working remotely as a security analyst for Campbell’s Camden, New Jersey, headquarters in September 2024. Campbell’s confirmed that Garza is a former employee.
Snopes was unable to locate a copy of the lawsuit online and has reached out to Runyan Law Group, which reportedly filed the lawsuit on Garza’s behalf, for more information.
In one of its Nov. 25 statements, Campbell’s addressed the audio recording. While the company did not confirm the recording’s authenticity, referring to it only as “alleged,” it said that if Bally made the comments, they were “unacceptable” and did not reflect Campbell’s “values and culture.” The statement also referenced the lawsuit Garza filed against the company.
Bally was placed on temporary leave while the company conducted an investigation, according to the statement.
In response to WDIV’s report, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office’s Consumer Protection division was “launching an investigation and will demand answers from Campbell’s.” Florida is among seven U.S. states that have banned lab-grown meat, according to a June 2025 report by Stateline.
