Food safety
be a giant leap. Yet that still requires robust stakeholder engagement, clear communication and shared goals to move towards regulation and then marketisation. “This necessarily complicated decision process will also take as much time as needed to achieve,” Takeuchi adds, noting that regulators must appreciate the bureaucracy, culture and legal customs of each market before putting pen to paper. Even so, many regulators have indicated that their current regulations are sufficient for cell-derived food. That’s true, for instance, when it comes to Food Standards Australia New Zealand, even if specific artificial meat rules haven’t yet been codified. Instead of working on new regulations, Takeuchi therefore suggests integrating rules for cell-based foods into existing nutrition plans. “Some countries may benefit from having a dedicated policy around cell-based food,” she adds, noting that this might move past safety considerations and into how cultivated meat interacts with food security, population nutrition and trade. And while Takeuchi emphasises the importance of local contexts when moving towards regulation, Roberts adds that international cooperation will be critical in both regulatory development and improving production. “Sharing of expertise between regulatory bodies can help,” he says, “while regulators can also play an important role in supporting innovation.” Roberts continues that governments need to better support research to scale up production and drive understanding around new foods. “How soon cell- based food gets to market depends on how much governments invest in open-access research, develop coherent strategies to support the sector, and
“The processing and preparation stages are the most vulnerable stages, and all food items in the market need to be suitably safe for the consumer.”
Masami Takeuchi
provide guidance to help companies navigate the regulatory process,” he explains. Some companies are driving ahead here, with CellRev (UK) and Saint Gobain (France) recently pioneering the reuse of spent material in cultivated meat production. Yet it is such production processes – and the incumbent costs – that are widely cited as blockers in getting this protein to market. As a 2024 study from New Food Innovation found, 70% of consumer choice is dictated by pricing – but alternatives to traditional protein products are often more expensive. Consider that, despite a fall in cost, lab-grown products still cost consumers at least three times more than typical meat products. For her part, Takeuchi adds that, for
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many startups, cost is the major concern too. “For them,” she says, “the real challenge is less establishing regulatory compliance but more related to [achieving] low production costs.”
Where next? With pressure to continue communication across industry – to build trust with the public and between industry actors; to drive production improvements and cost savings; and to move towards commercialisation – Roberts argues that publications like the 2023 FAO- WHO report are vital. “It provided invaluable insights for policymakers and stakeholders involved in cultivated meat,” he says, “as well as suggestions on how regulators can build robust timely review pathways to ensure the huge benefits of this game- changing food can be felt by consumers.” Building on the importance of industry-wide information sharing, the FAO followed up its 2023 report by publishing crib sheets and videos on cell- based food safety. Takeuchi notes that conversations around improving regulator understanding of cultivated meat production processes – and the safety protocols within them – are ongoing. The point, she emphasises, is to build trust in consumers. And with the FAO mandated to address member concerns, and questions at the FAO’s 46th Codex Alimentarius on the food trade focusing on the global outlook of regulatory frameworks for cell-based food, Takeuchi says further updates are likely. As she puts it: “It is possible that FAO, most likely together with WHO, will produce documents to address these requests in 2024 or 2025.” Yet regulation is only part of the cultivated meat picture. Qatar, for instance, recently announced a cultured meat production facility, even as producers of lab-grown proteins have had products taken off menus in the United States. In short, progress is mixed – and any forward momentum will always take time. Indeed, Takeuchi, for her part, doesn’t expect any damascene moment where these products are suddenly regulated across the world and appear on the shelves, despite the fact that companies in more than 20 countries are developing protein analogues worldwide. All the same, it’s likely that interest in lab-grown meat won’t go away – meaning pressure will continue to build on regulators, governments and expert industry stakeholders to find solutions. That’s especially when climate and food equity concerns play out in the background, and financiers continue to throw billions of dollars into the sector. While consumption of the next lab-grown burger, wherever that is, likely won’t attract both the high-profile fascination and criticism of the live-streamed 2013 meal, there’s enough vested interest in this industry to ensure it won’t be the last diners chow down on – something that would doubtless keep Dr Post happy indeed.
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
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