Europeans are likely to be eating cultured meat before they eat cultured seafood, with regulatory approval for the former not expected for another three or four years, according to alternative protein experts.
While regulatory approval for cultured food is eventually anticipated to be approved by European authorities, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has not yet defined the approval process for cultivated proteins, and once that process has been outlined, ratification will take at least 18 to 24 months, Amgen Regulatory Consulting CEO Hannah Lester said at the New Food Conference, organized by ProVeg International in Berlin, Germany.
“2023 will certainly not be the year cultivated meat is available in the E.U. I believe we will see approval in Europe in 2025-2026. But on the positive side, I am confident we will see approvals in the U.S. in 2023," Lester said.
Sebastian Rakers, the CEO of cell-based seafood-maker Bluu Seafood, said he expects cultured meat to win regulatory approval in Europe before cultured seafood.
“Cultivated meat has a longer development history than cultivated fish and will therefore most likely achieve regulatory approval a bit earlier,” he said
But once the E.U. finally gives its approval, Rakers said he expects cell-cultured protein products to be a huge success.
“There is a great awareness of the need to change the way we eat if we want to survive on this planet. Our cultivated fish comes GMO-free and with the same taste, mouthfeel, and nutritious profile as wild-caught fish but without harming the animal or endangering the marine ecosystem any further," he said. "It is also definitely more sustainable in production than the conventional fishing industry and thus is a viable answer to anyone interested in a more sustainable future of food production."
According to ProVeg International’s Cell-Ag Project Coordinator Mathilde Alexandre, Singapore “has led the way” where cultured meat is concerned by granting approval for cultured chicken in 2020.
“And the dam is about to break elsewhere,” she said.
Singapore's first approved cell-cultured protein was a hybrid product composed of 70 percent cultivated chicken and 30 percent plant-based ingredients. Alexandre said she believes that such hybrid products present a huge opportunity to accelerate market entry by combining plant-based with cultivated ingredients.
“Hybrid food products could serve as a long-term strategy on the path to perfecting the functionality and cost of cultivated meat," Alexandre said.
Photo courtesy of Microgen/Shutterstock
