UK FSA to Launch Program Investigating Cell-Based Food Safety
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The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have been awarded £1.6 million in funding from the Government’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund (EBSF) to launch an innovative sandbox program to ensure the safety of cell-cultivated foods.
Cell-cultured foods, also called “cell-based” or “lab-grown” foods, are grown from cultivated animal or plant cells in a laboratory rather than produced through traditional agricultural methods. At present, no cell-based foods are approved for human consumption in the UK, due to their novelty and the need for more research investigating their safety.
For the two-year sandbox program, FSA and FSS will recruit a new team for the purpose of gathering scientific evidence on cell-cultured foods and the technology used for their production. The information gathered will be used to inform evidence-based recommendations and address questions before any cell-based foods are allowed to enter the UK market, and will help FSA/FSS guide industry on how to safely produce these foods and demonstrate the safety of the foods.
The sandbox program will also facilitate pre-application support to cell-based food manufacturers and answer their questions on labeling and other considerations. It will enable FSA/FSS to process cell-based food applications more quickly and better support businesses. The program will also aid the development of approaches that can be applied to other innovative foods.
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