Companies and food awareness organisations are hotly anticipating regulatory approval across Europe for cultured meat and seafood.
Lab-grown protein promises a healthier, climate and animal friendly alternative to conventional meat and fish but so far only Singapore has approved its production and sale, granting a licence for cultured chicken back in 2020.
However, Mathilde Alexandre, Cell-Ag Project Coordinator at food awareness organisation, ProVeg International, said that the ‘dam was about to break elsewhere’.
“In fact, the product approved in Singapore was a hybrid product composed of 70% cultivated chicken and 30% plant-based ingredients,” she said.
“Hybrid food products could serve as a long-term strategy on the path to perfecting the functionality and cost of cultivated meat.”
The news might not be so good for seafood lovers as progress in this area is lagging behind that of meat. “Cultivated meat has a longer development history than cultivated fish and will therefore most likely achieve regulatory approval a bit earlier,” said Sebastian Rakers, chief executive of Bluu Seafood.
“The European Food Safety Authority is working on cultivated proteins, but so far the approval process is not ultimately defined, and ratification will take at least 18 to 24 months,” he added.
But when approval is gained, Mr Rakers is confident that the market will take off. “There is a great awareness of the need to change the way we eat if we want to survive on this planet,” he said.
“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.”
