First European application to approve cultured meat is a reality – or not?

(Update) For the first time, a manufacturer is asking the European food authority for the green light to commercialise cultivated meat from bioreactors. However, approval could drag on for years.

German startup

The applicant is German startup The Cultivated B, the cultured meat subsidiary of Infamily Foods, a manufacturer of sustainable meat products and hybrid meat and vegetable products from North Rhine-Westphalia. The producer is seeking the green light to commercialise a product based on cultured meat and plant proteins, similar to a hot dog, reports Lebensmittel Zeitung.

It is the first company in the world to register a cultured meat product with the European Food Safety Authority. As cultured meat falls under the European Union’s Novel Food Regulation, the product has to go through a rigorous approval process that will take at least 18 months and possibly even several years.

The Cultivated B produces bioreactors in Canada and until now positioned itself as a supplier of technology to cultured meat manufacturers, but is now changing its strategy to commercialise cultured meat itself. The move is part of the Infamily Foods group’s sustainable protein strategy.

High expectations

In the United States, two producers already recently obtained authorisation to market cellular meat from bioreactors. Commercialisation of cultured meat has also been authorised in Singapore.

Internationally, expectations for this new product category are high because cultured meat is animal-friendly, clean, safe and sustainable: compared to traditional animal husbandry, production would emit 80% to 90% less greenhouse gases, use 45% less energy, 90% less water and 99% less land. Yet there are still many technological and financial hurdles to overcome before it can reach the market on a large scale. And then it remains to wait for consumer reactions.

Confusion

Update: there seems to be some confusion about the nature of the process The Cultivated B has initiated with food authority EFSA. All regulatory applications to EFSA are publicly listed on their website but so far there is no online record of any submission for any cultured meat company, including The Cultivated B. In its press release, the company speaks of a “pre-submission process” which, however, does not formally exist. It is possible that The Cultivated B only registered to obtain an identifier on the EFSA platform, as many cultured meat companies have done for some time. Contrary to what the company suggests, this does not mean the start of a regulatory process at EFSA.