The Food Standards Agency (FSA), in collaboration with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), has launched a new pilot business support service to assist companies developing cell-cultivated products for the UK market.
Also known as ‘lab grown meat', cell-cultivated products cover a variety of foods which can be made using a production process without slaughter or traditional farming and agricultural practices.
Cells isolated from animals or plants are grown in a controlled environment and then harvested to make a final food product.
The FSA and FSS have already received a small number of applications for cell-cultivated foods and expect more in the coming years.
Thomas Vincent, deputy director of Sandbox and Innovation at the FSA said: "As cell-cultivated products are now being developed in new and innovative ways, it is vital they continue to meet our high safety standards.
"This new service will help businesses understand what is needed to prove their products are safe and guide them through the authorisation process.
"By making it easier for companies to get things right from the start, we can support growth in the cell-cultivated product sector while giving consumers a wider choice of safe food."
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Throughout the process, the FSA and FSS will collect information on emerging cell-cultivated technologies which they say will allow for a more informed authorisation process ensuring the safety of the products before they are marketed.
