Once the stuff of sci-fi novels, food grown in a laboratory could be approved for human consumption in the UK within two years.
Companies in the UK have already been producing meatballs, animal fat and other foods in laboratories, but have complained about the difficulties in getting them approved by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
However, the government department has now said a team of scientists and regulatory experts will begin gathering “rigorous scientific evidence” about the products and how they are made.
The FSA added that it is committed to completing a “fully safety assessment” of two lab-produced foods which would allow them to be sold in the UK within the next two years.
How the sausages are made
The foods, which include burgers, steaks, sausages and salmon, are developed from tiny animal cells by scientists working in chemical plants.
They are known as cell-cultivated products (CCPs) and are made without using traditional farming methods such as rearing livestock.
Lab-grown meats therefore have strong environmental credentials because their production doesn’t require huge amounts of land and the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from livestock farming are reduced.
Scientists have also reportedly suggested altering the nutritional contents of cell-cultured meat so that it could be healthier than the animal product.
Farmers’ fears
However, some say the development of CCPs marks another move away from natural foodstuffs at a time when there is already concern about the consumption of ultra-processed foods.
And some animal farmers fear lab-grown meats pose yet another threat to their livelihoods.
Singapore, Israel and pockets of the US have approved cultivated meat for human consumption, but the UK has so far only allowed it in pet food.
This is despite the UK being one of the leaders in the field of producing CCPs.
Announcing…
