UK Government to create regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat

The UK Government will create a new regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat, with the aim to boost innovation in the sector, it has announced. The regulatory sandbox will be Europe’s first.

The Government suggested that it would create regulatory sandboxes for engineering biology, which includes alternative proteins, in its National Vision for Engineering Biology policy paper last year.​ The sandbox for cultivated meat comes with funding commitments of £1.6m for the Government’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund (EBSF).

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) will collaborate to help guide companies on how they can demonstrate their products and processes are safe and in line with the UK’s novel food regulatory framework.

New staff will be recruited for the sandbox, who will gather scientific evidence about cultivated meat products, as well as the technology used to make them, to ensure product safety.

They will also, in turn, help companies who are planning on submitting applications for cultivated meat, and will also work closely with scientists in order to provide guidance on key questions, such as cultivated meat labelling and hygiene considerations for production facilities.

The FSA is currently reviewing at least four novel food applications for cultivated meat, including for French cultivated chicken company, Vital Meat​. UK company Meatly, which produces cultivated pet food​, recently became the first company to gain approval for cultivated meat in Europe.