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The UK has published fresh guidance for companies developing cultivated meat proteins and other novel foods to certify and sell in the UK.
The government described these as “new foods that don’t involve conventional farming, such as rearing livestock or growing plants and grains.”
Read more: Cultivated Meat Startup Develops Roe Deer Venison Cells
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) released four new pieces of guidance in early July. They are: Food business hygiene requirements for cell-cultivated products; supplementary guidance on identity, production, and microbiology; improving your cell-cultivated product application; and novel food taste trials supplementary information.
The new documents feature a mix of general food law and hygiene regulations, detailed scientific requirements for evaluating products, practical recommendations for stronger, more complete applications for market authorisation, and additional guidance on conducting taste trials of novel foods and cell-cultivated products.
In addition to the guidance, the FSA and FSS offer a Business Support Service that links cultivated meat companies with regulatory experts. Thomas Vincent, the deputy director of innovation at the FSA, said, “Cell-cultivated products represent a genuinely new frontier for the food industry, and we want businesses to have the clearest possible picture of what is required to bring safe products to market.”
Read more: Meatly Is Building Europe’s Largest Cultivated Meat Factory In London
‘These documents are ultimately about reducing barriers for emerging food technologies’
This is the second batch of publications from the Department of Science and Technology (DSIT)-funded Cell-Cultivated Products Sandbox Programme, which “complements” the UK’s market authorisation process. The FSA and FSS announced the first-of-its-kind programme in June last year, which will run until February 2027.
“This guidance reflects the knowledge we have built through engagement with industry and academia through the Sandbox, and is designed to make the path to authorisation more transparent and efficient,” Vincent added. “Consumer safety is non-negotiable, and these documents are ultimately about reducing barriers for emerging food technologies without compromising on safety standards.”
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