The UK government has announced that it will create Europe’s first cultivated meat regulatory sandbox to improve the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) scientific knowledge about the novel food.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced £1.6 million in funding for the FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) – which must conduct a rigorous safety assessment of any cultivated meat product before it can be sold in the UK.
The funding will enable the FSA and FSS to make informed decisions about product safety and guide companies on how they can effectively demonstrate that their products and processes are safe, in line with the UK’s existing novel foods regulatory framework.
In a statement, the UK government said:
"Through the sandbox we will gather rigorous scientific evidence about cell-cultivated products and the technology used to make them. This information will enable us to make well-informed decisions about product safety...As part of the sandbox, we’ll be able to offer pre-application support to CCP companies and address key questions that must be addressed before CCPs can enter the market, for example around labelling.
This work will mean we can process CCP applications more quickly and support businesses better in their applications, ultimately providing consumers with a better choice of safe foods. The work achieved by the sandbox will also allow the FSA and FSS to keep pace with emerging technologies and apply new insights when authorising other innovative foods.
The programme will reduce delays and costs associated with applying for regulatory approval- estimated at the date of publication to be £350,000-£500,000 per company per product- and will help CCP companies attract the investment they need to scale-up production.
The agencies will recruit new staff to work on the sandbox, who will provide support to companies planning to submit applications to sell cell-based meat in the UK. The staff will also work closely with scientists to produce detailed guidance on key questions such as hygiene considerations for production facilities and how cultivated meat products should be labelled.
The FSA’s sandbox will be the first of its kind in Europe and follows South Korea’s decision to create a regulatory innovation zone to support the development of novel food regulations and the scale-up of cultivated meat production processes.
The Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe says that this could help grow the UK’s cultivated meat sector and ensure consumers have confidence in the safety and nutritional quality of this food.
However, the GFI stressed that while the sandbox is likely to improve the regulatory pathway for cell-based meat, it is not a solution to the long-term funding challenges facing the FSA’s regulated product service – responsible for authorising new food products – which ministers must address in the forthcoming multi-year spending review.
The FSA has frequently stated that its regulated product system is under-resourced, with authorisations of new food and animal feed taking an average of 2.5 years although the statutory aim is 17 months.
What is a regulatory sandbox?
Sandboxes are controlled environments usually running for limited periods that enable businesses, academics and regulators to collaborate on designing new rules, standards and guidance.
The announcement of a regulatory sandbox follows the FSA’s recent confirmation that the UK government will enact initial reforms to the way a wide range of regulated products – including some alternative proteins – are brought to market.
Professor Robin May, chief scientific advisor at the FSA, said: “Ensuring consumers can trust the safety of new foods is one of our most crucial responsibilities. The CCP sandbox programme 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 GFI Europe, commented: “This announcement sends a clear message that the new government wants to capitalise 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.
“Cultivated meat could play a key role in boosting food security, driving growth and helping us hit our climate targets. The sandbox is a welcome measure, but to fully realise the potential of cultivated meat, ministers must also provide a long-term boost to the FSA’s budget, enabling regulators to complete robust risk assessments within statutory timeframes.”
Top image: ©UK firm Ivy Farm Technologies' cultivated pork sausage
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