The Food Standards Agency (FSA), in partnership with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), has published the UK’s first safety guidance for cell-cultivated products (CCPs).
CCPs are new foods that don’t involve traditional farming such as rearing livestock or growing plants and grains. They are made by taking cells from plants or animals, which are then grown into food.
With the FSA and FSS’s CCP Sandbox Programme focusing on animal cells only, these are the first of several pieces of guidance being produced by the programme.
The first confirms that cell-cultivated products produced using animal cells, sometimes called ‘lab-grown meat’, are defined as products of animal origin. This means that businesses must apply existing food safety regulations during the production process.
The second provides guidance on allergenicity assessments and how nutritional quality will be assessed as part of the approval process for all cell-cultivated products.
Dr Thomas Vincent, deputy director of innovation at the FSA, said: “Our new guidance provides clarity for businesses, helping them to understand and correctly demonstrate to UK food regulators how their products are safe.
“Specifically, this guidance ensures that companies have assessed potential allergenic risks and that they are nutritionally appropriate before they can be authorised for sale. Consumers can be reassured that these innovative new foods will meet the same rigorous safety standards as conventional foods.
“The Sandbox programme is allowing us to fast-track regulatory knowledge to reduce barriers for emerging food technologies without compromising on safety standards.”
The guidance has been developed using a science-based framework and is the first from the FSA and FSS’s CCP Sandbox Programme, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DSIT) through the Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund.
This new approach to regulation has allowed the food regulators to support innovation by providing clarity to innovators on how to demonstrate that their products are safe. It will bolster business confidence and efficiency in regulating these foods, supporting growth in innovative foods. The FSA and FSS are due to release further guidance for cell-cultivated products throughout 2026.