Singapore became the first country to approve meat grown from cultured cells in 2021. No applications have been made in the EU, despite it being home to much of the technological development taking place
Cultured meat
Cell cultured meats are made from modified animal cells grown in a fermenter. They offer the potential to eat meat made from the same cells but without having to rear an animal. All cell cultured meats would be considered novel foods with the only approval for cell cultured meat globally has been in Singapore, although applications have reached an advanced stage in several markets, including the US.
CBD
CBD acquired novel foods status in January 2019 while the UK remained an EU member state, and requires companies to apply formally via in-depth dossiers. It was previously sold under standard food regulations, but was reclassfied in response to rising concerns around the varying quality of CBD and CBD-infused products. In the UK, CBD currently makes up the vast majority of novel food applications.
Insects
Several insects and mealworms have been approved by the EU in recent years, but the UK is a bit behind. While the UK copied EU law over following Brexit, producers complain the UK initially said all existing novel foods applications submitted to the EU would need new applications to reflect the law change. The situation was resolved in late 2021, but by that time many companies were forced to start all over again.
Precision fermentation
Precision fermentation uses genetically modified micro-organisms such as bacteria or yeast to make specific proteins. These micro-organisms are then grown in a fermenter and proteins are harvested.
Animal fats and proteins like protein can be produced in this way. Precision fermentation is already used to make medicines such as insulin, and in the food industry to make most of the rennet used in cheese manufacture.
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