Lab-Grown Food Could Be Sold In The UK Within Two Years

Lab-grown food could be sold in the UK within two years, a watchdog has indicated.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was committed to completing the full safety assessment of two cell-cultivated products (CCPs) within the next two years.

The watchdog has launched a “pioneering” regulatory programme for CCPs to make sure they are safe for consumers before they are sold, funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund.

CCPs are new food products made without traditional farming methods such as rearing livestock or growing plants and grains.

Instead, cells from plants or animals are grown in a controlled environment to make the product.

There are currently no CCPs approved for human consumption in the UK.

FSA chief scientific adviser Professor Robin May said: “Safe innovation is at the heart of this programme.

“By prioritising consumer safety and making sure new foods, like CCPs, are safe we can support growth in innovative sectors.

“Our aim is to ultimately provide consumers with a wider choice of new food, while maintaining the highest safety standards.”

A team of scientists and regulatory experts will work with academic bodies, the CCP industry and trade organisations on the two-year programme.

Science minister Lord Vallance said: “By supporting the safe development of cell-cultivated products, we’re giving businesses the confidence to innovate and accelerating the UK’s position as a global leader in sustainable food production.

“This work will not only help bring new products to market faster, but strengthen consumer trust, supporting our Plan for Change and creating new economic opportunities across the country.”

The businesses participating in the programme are Hoxton Farms, Roslin Technologies and Uncommon Bio, all from the UK, BlueNalu (US), Mosa Meat (the Netherlands), Gourmey and Vital Meat (France) and Vow (Australia).

Hoxton Farms was launched in 2020 by Ed Steele and Max Jamilly, and has been pioneering technology to grow animal fat products that “look, cook and taste like the real thing”.

Roslin Technologies was launched two years later as a biotech company to produce lab-grown pet food.

In February, a dog treat made from cultivated meat went on sale at Pets at Home in a move the retailer claimed was a world first.

In July last year, the UK became the first country in Europe to back cultivated meat for use in pet food, after chicken produced by the firm Meatly was approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The treat, called Chick Bites, is made from plant-based ingredients combined with cultivated meat, which is produced by growing cells and does not require the raising or slaughter of animals.

Meatly said the chicken was produced from a single sample of cells taken from one chicken egg, from which enough cultivated meat could be produced to feed pets “forever”.