The recent colloquium on cell culture-derived food, organized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has underlined the European Commission’s readiness for innovation in food production, specifically in the realm of cell-based foods.
Bruno Gautrais, the EC’s head of unit dealing with Novel Foods, emphasized that while there’s no preconceived ideology about cell-based products, it’s paramount that these products are backed by undeniable science. The role that cell-based food will play in our diets is still uncertain, but one thing is clear – it has to be safe. The colloquium aimed to generate scientific advice to guide both scientists and stakeholders in the complex process of submitting scientific dossiers. This process seeks to provide companies with certainty about the legal environment and underlines the necessity for responsible operators who share data honestly, even after their products hit the market.
At FUDZS, we fully support the push for more rigorous scientific research and a stronger partnership between public and private entities. We believe that these efforts will enhance the safety of our products and the broader cultivated meat industry. We understand that building the right process and getting it right takes time. We hope EFSA’s rigorous process for reviewing scientific dossiers will be known as soon as possible. We think it could be a good idea to work together to create this process, as the method used in the USA by the FDA and the USDA. It would be a shame that European companies will look to other countries with less stringent regulatory frameworks. This is a significant concern, especially as the idea of cultivated meat originated in Europe.
We are preparing for changes in process design over the next 18 months to increase safety of our products according to the EFSA policies. We are optimistic about the potential of this industry to revolutionize food production in a sustainable and ethical manner.