The UK launches Europe’s first regulatory “sandbox” for cultivated meat, facilitating the approval process for innovative food technologies.
The UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced £1.6 million in funding for a regulatory “sandbox” within the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), specifically for cultivated meat and seafood.
Claimed as Europe’s first, the sandbox aims to accelerate the authorization process for these novel proteins. Cultivated meat must undergo a comprehensive food safety assessment in alignment with the UK’s existing regulatory framework for novel foods and must be authorized by ministers before becoming publicly available.
The sandbox aims to boost regulators’ scientific knowledge of cultivated meat, develop detailed guidance, and provide pre-submission consultations to companies to streamline approval timelines while maintaining safety standards. It will also review hygiene in production facilities, labeling, and nomenclature.
Other initiatives, approvals, and submissions
This initiative follows the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) recent confirmation of plans to implement reforms to accelerate the approval of regulated products, including cultivated meat and other alternative proteins, by 2025. And, it comes after the approval of a cultivated chicken ingredient developed by Meatly. However, the Department for Food, Environment, and Rural Affairs managed the regulatory process since it is a feed product.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Aleph Farms (cultivated beef) and two French companies, Vital Meat (cultivated chicken) and Gourmey (cultivated foie), have submitted products for regulatory approval in the UK.
Addressing regulatory uncertainties
Cellular Agriculture Europe (CAE) and the Alternative Proteins Association (APA) have welcomed the government’s initiative. Both associations, which represent over 40 businesses in the growing cultivated meat sector, participated in designing the sandbox.
As defined by these trade bodies, a sandbox is an environment that allows scientific and technological innovation while enabling collaboration among businesses, academics, and regulators to address regulatory uncertainties.
Robert E. Jones, President of CAE, shared: “Today’s announcement is another strong signal that the UK aims to be a leader in innovation, thereby boosting its global competitiveness in the race to address food security and sustainability issues in our food systems.”
Jeremy Coller, President of APA, said, “The UK has the potential to be at the front of the pack in Europe’s projected £70 billion cultivated meat market, but only if investors know we are open for business. The creation of this sandbox is a fantastic step forward for growing British businesses.”
Trusting the safety of novel foods
The Good Food Institute Europe has also welcomed the news, underlining the initiative’s significant support for the UK’s cultivated meat sector. However, it stressed that the sandbox is not a solution to the long-term funding challenges facing the FSA’s regulated product service, “which ministers must address in the forthcoming multi-year spending review.” Previously, the FSA indicated that its regulated product system is under-resourced, with authorizations for new food and animal feed taking an average of 2.5 years, while the statutory aim is 17 months.
According to GFI Europe, the UK’s sandbox initiative is similar to global efforts, such as South Korea’s regulatory innovation zone, which aims to support the development of novel food regulations and expand cultivated meat production processes.
Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Adviser at the FSA, said: “Ensuring consumers can trust the safety of new foods is one of our most crucial responsibilities. The CCP sandbox program will enable safe innovation and allow us to keep pace with new technologies being used by the food industry to ultimately provide consumers with a wider choice of safe foods.”
Linus Pardoe, UK Policy Manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, commented: “This announcement sends a clear message that the new government wants to capitalize on the strong investments made in British cultivated meat research and innovation over recent years by bringing products to market in a way that upholds the UK’s gold standard safety regulations.”
Original source: https://vegconomist.com
https://www.animalagricultureclimatechange.org/lab-grown-industry-uk/
