The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced the launch of a new regulatory programme for cultivated meat.
Funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund, the programme will aim to make sure Cell-Cultivated Products (CCPs) are safe for consumers before they’re sold.
A team of scientists and regulatory experts will now begin work on the two-year programme, collaborating with academic bodies, the CCP industry and trade organisations. Their aim is to gather rigorous scientific evidence about CCPs and how they are made, to inform how the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Foods Standards Scotland (FSS) regulate these products.
The evidence will enable the FSA to assess CCP applications more efficiently and make sure they are safe before they can be sold to consumers. The FSA will provide clearer guidance to businesses, and address questions that must be answered before any CCPs can enter the market. Through the programme, the FSA highlighted that it is committed to completing the full safety assessment of two CCPs within the next two years.
Professor Robin May, chief scientific advisor at FSA, commented: “Safe innovation is at the heart of this programme. By prioritising consumer safety and making sure new foods, like CCPs are safe, we can support growth in innovative sectors. Our aim is to ultimately provide consumers with a wider choice of new food, while maintaining the highest safety standards.”
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “By supporting the safe development of cell-cultivated products, we’re giving businesses the confidence to innovate and accelerating the UK’s position as a global leader in sustainable food production.
”This work will not only help bring new products to market faster, but strengthen consumer trust, supporting our Plan for Change and creating new economic opportunities across the country.”
The Food Standards Agency has announced the eight CCP companies that have been selected to participate in the programme. The participants were chosen through a rigorous selection process to represent the diverse, international range of technologies, processes, and ingredients used in CCP production.
CCP businesses participating in the programme are Hoxton Farms (UK), BlueNalu (USA), Mosa Meat (The Netherlands), Gourmey (France), Roslin Technologies (UK), Uncommon Bio (UK), Vital Meat (France) and Vow (Australia).
As well as also working with the wider international CCP industry, FSA said it will be working closely with academic partners including the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) led by the University of Bath, National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), and the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein. Trade bodies that will represent the broader industry are The Good Food Institute Europe (GFI) and the Alternative Proteins Association (APA).
