Food safety
backed more than 150 companies who were, at the very least, researching in this area. For its part, cultivated meat has already been greenlit for sale in both Singapore and the United States. Many regulators elsewhere believe they have frameworks in place which could be adapted to authorise lab-grown proteins. Where there are shortfalls, discussions are taking place to understand how best to support commercialisation efforts. In 2023, for instance, the European Commission and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) convened with researchers and businesses to look at the role regulation plays in alternate protein production. With an Israeli startup having already applied to sell lab-grown beef in Europe, and a Dutch startup ready to start producing cultivated burgers in the thousands, the pressure is on to reach regulatory agreement. To put it differently, expansion efforts must dovetail with the rise in regulation. But for this to happen, suggests Seth Roberts, a policy manager at Good Food Institute Europe, government bodies and industry stakeholders must work together to cut eye-watering production costs, figuring out risk mitigation – and ultimately build trust with consumers, with only 18% currently willing to try cultivated meat products. With the industry in its infancy, Roberts believes institutional support is critical if production is to be scaled up and startups can navigate regulations when they arrive. As he says: “Dialogue is needed in order to make [cultivated meat] affordable and accessible to everyone and maximise the societal benefits.” Dialogue is clearly happening. In 2023, to give one prominent example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in conjunction with the World Health Organisation, published a paper to help navigate hurdles in the way of more widespread regulation. At the same time, the
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
report’s authors shared evidence around safety risks, while also attempting to further explain differences in terminology, as well as cultural and contextual understanding of lab-grown meat. For a product that has entered just a couple of markets, it is referred to as cell-based, cultivated and cultured – with terms such as artificial, animal-free, slaughter- free, shmeat, Meat.20, and Frankenment also used in various countries. As Masami Takeuchi, a food safety officer at FAO explains: “It is important for the FAO to provide technical assistance to support its members to have access to such information.”
But as the paper laid out, there is much work to be done. For instance, there are gaps when it comes to understanding all the hazards in cultivated meat production, while many countries still don’t have frameworks or regulations needed for such proteins to hit the market. As a result, Roberts argues, further dialogue is sorely needed. “The report,” he says, “emphasises the need for more global sharing of information between governments to promote transparency and build trust.”
Regulatory hurdles Takeuchi explains that regulators will need to continue working with industry professionals to better understand risks and processes and then share information on safety concerns. “The processing and preparation stages are the most vulnerable stages,” she adds, “and all food items in the market need to be suitably safe for the consumer.” On the plus side, Takeuchi explains that many hazards in the production of cultivated meat are shared in other food manufacturing processes, including microbiological and allergen contamination. This means risk mitigation processes and regulation for lab-grown meat shouldn’t
Cultivated meat, if produced using renewable energy, could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 92%.
62%
of American consumers say climate-friendliness makes the most difference to them when choosing meat and poultry.
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