Eight Companies Selected for UK’s First Cell-Cultivated Food Safety Programme

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has chosen eight companies to participate in a two-year regulatory programme focused on evaluating the safety of cell-cultivated products (CCPs). This initiative, funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology's Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund, aims to gather scientific evidence on the production and safety of CCPs. The data collected will inform the regulatory framework overseen by the FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and support more efficient assessments of CCP applications. The FSA has committed to conducting full safety evaluations of two CCPs during the two-year period.

The selected companies, including Hoxton Farms, Mosa Meat, Gourmey, and others, represent a range of technologies and processes used in CCP production. Collaboration with academic institutions like the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) and industry representatives like the Alternative Proteins Association (APA) will also be key components of the programme. One participant, Mosa Meat, will contribute its expertise in cultivated beef production and sees its involvement in the FSA's initiative as a step toward advancing cultivated meat regulation and market entry in the UK.