Novel Foods, Commercialization and Regulatory Roundup
Regulatory news
After voting in March to ban the production and sale of cultured meat, Italy has now withdrawn its Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS) notification to the EU, citing ongoing parliamentary discussions. TRIS notification is necessary before creating a trade barrier in the EU.
The Romanian Senate also passed a bill banning the sale of cultivated meat in their domestic market. The legislative proposal will now be discussed by their Chamber of Deputies.
The US FDA made two additional draft chapters of their “Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food” guidance for industry available for comment. The deadline for feedback is March 25, 2024.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) identified eight emerging risks in their recent summary of 2021 activities, including potential health risks associated with consuming coconut oil and the risk of children overdosing on vitamin D from food supplements.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has updated the Industry Labelling Tool's guidance for simulated meat and simulated poultry products, specifying that they must be clearly identified by the words “simulated”, as well as "contains no meat" or "contains no poultry" (as applicable), and meet specific requirements for composition and fortification.
The US Congressional Research Service (CRS) published an overview of cell-cultivated meat, summarizing the science, the industry, the regulatory framework for cultured meat products, US congressional interests, and potential policy considerations.
Company and funding news:
CULT Food Science, Canada, announced that their cultured fish cat food is slated for 2024 release in the USA. Marina Cat is made from ocean snapper, produced in Singapore by Umami Bioworks, and enriched with nutritional yeast and fermentation products.
Nourish Ingredients, Australia, showcased a new food ingredient that mimics the mouthfeel of animal fat but is derived from precision fermentation using a fungal strain found in Australian soil. It can be added to plant-based meats to make them taste meatier.
In the Hydrocow project, recently funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), Solar Foods, Finland, the University of Groningen, Netherlands, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and FGen, Switzerland, aim to develop microbes that convert CO2, hydrogen (from electrolysis of water) and mineral nutrients into beta-lactoglobulin, a major constituent of milk.
Moolec announced that it had raised $30 million in cash and in-kind contributions. The company is focused on producing animal proteins in plants. Earlier this year they achieved expression of up to 26.6% pork protein in soybeans.
South Korean food and beverage giant Nongshim Co.. unveiled plans to pump 10 billion won ($7.4 million) into venture funds fostering emerging food tech startups with a specific focus on cultured meat, smart farming, and digital transformation.
QL AG will partner with Ginkgo as they develop new strains for precision fermentation of nutritionally equivalent dairy proteins.
Australian cellular agriculture dairy startup Eden Brew raised AUD 24.4 million ($15.6 million) in Series A funding. They plan to use the funding to obtain regulatory and patent approvals and to pilot commercial-scale production of dairy proteins.
Wanda Fish Technologies, Israel, has secured $7 million in seed funding to accelerate pilot production of cultured bluefin tuna.
Every Co., US, which produces precision fermentation-enabled proteins, and Grupo Nutresa, a Colombian CPG food company, jointly announced a collaboration to create alt-meat products for the Colombian market.
Meatable, Netherlands, held a tasting of its cultured sausages and pulled pork products in Singapore and is on track to launch into the Singaporean market in 2024.
Novel Farms, Inc.., US, received a $999,967 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National US Science Foundation (NSF) to develop its scaffolding platform using microbial fermentation and tissue engineering techniques for cultured meat production.
UK-based cultured meat company Extracellular has announced that it has opened Europe’s largest contract pilot facility dedicated to cultured meat and seafood production.
Notable publications:
From fertilised oocyte to cultivated meat – harnessing bovine embryonic stem cells in the cultivated meat industry – open access review by authors from Aleph Farms
Advances in cultured meat technology , edited by Mark Post, Maastricht University, The Netherlands, with chapters from industrial and academic experts around the world, reviews the major technologies used in cultured meat product development, including cell line sourcing, cell growth media, bioreactors for cell multiplication and tissue engineering using scaffolds.