A £38 million centre dedicated to developing alternatives to animal proteins will be headed up by the University of Leeds.
The announcement comes as Innovate UK, along with UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have revealed £15 million in funding over the next five years, with other partners supplying the remaining funding.
Professor Anwesha Sarkar, director of Research and Innovation for Leeds’ School of Food Science and Nutrition, is the project leader for the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC). She will be joined by Professor Derek Stewart of the James Hutton Institute, as well as Professor Karen Polizzi of Imperial College London and Professor Louise Dye of the University of Sheffield.
More than 120 NAPIC partners will work with industry, regulators, investors and policymakers to create a roadmap for the development of a National Protein Strategy for the UK. The centre will be hosted by the University of Leeds and co-led by the James Hutton Institute, the University of Sheffield and Imperial College London.
Professor Sarkar said she was thrilled by the announcement: “Population-level access to, and acceptance of, alternative proteins is currently hindered by a highly complex marketplace, and there are worries about taste, nutritional equivalence and cost, as well as health and safety concerns for consumers and the fear of diminished livelihoods for farmers.
“NAPIC will provide a robust and sustainable platform for open innovation and responsible data exchange and collaboration with partners from industry, regulators, academic partners and policy makers that mitigates the risks associated with this emerging sector, and also addresses the short- and longer-term concerns of consumers and producers.”
Some of the alternative proteins that will be researched include cereals, legumes, nuts, fungus, algae and insects, as well as cultured meat.
