The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) have published a joint scientific review on novel food sources and production systems, such as edible insects, cell-based foods, plant-based proteins, and other products.
The European Commission has updated its internal guidance document on the implementation of its regulations on the hygiene of food of animal origin, to clarify how cultivated meat, insects, and other foods for which no detailed requirements are established should be regulated in accordance with the provision’s requirements.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed Senate Bill 1084 into law, becoming the first U.S. state to ban the sale of cell-based meat (also known as “cultivated” or “lab-grown” meat).
The Alabama House of Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 23 banning the production or sale of cell-based meat products in the state. The bill has been returned to the Senate for concurrence.
West Virginia passed a bill known as the Truth in Food Labeling Act, restricting the language that can be used on labels for cell-based meats, plant-based meat alternatives, and other “analogue products,” such as insect-based foods. The bill awaits the Governor’s signature.
The School Lunch Integrity Act of 2024, sponsored by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Jon Tester (D-MT), would ban cell-cultivated meat from use in school meals.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is inviting food businesses that are interested in applying for cell-based product authorization to complete a survey that will help the agency fine-tune its regulatory process and better understand the different cell-culture technologies in use by industry.
In Arizona, one recently introduced bill (House Bill 2244) aims to ban lab grown meat, and another (House Bill 2121) would prohibit labeling of meat alternatives and cell-based meat as “meat.”
Concerns around food safety and scalability have surfaced since the successful launch of cultivated meat products in the U.S. This article summarizes recent regulatory developments that provide insight on how the current U.S. regulatory framework addresses food safety within the cultivated meat space.
