Lab-Gro Meat, Dairy and Sugar may be available to buy in the UK within two years, as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) examines ways to speed up the approval process, BBC Informed
These products cultivated from cells in controlled environment are already approved for human consumption in Singapore, United States and Israel. However, they are banned in Italy and many American states including Alabama and Florida.
UK companies have been at the forefront of developing laboratory-developed foods, but believe that they have been interrupted by slow regulatory procedures. Dog food made from cultivated meat recently became available in the UK, which was a small step towards widespread adoption.
The FSA aims to assess the safety of at least two laboratory-developed foods within two years, working with industry experts and educational researchers. The agency’s chief scientist Professor Robin Meas assured that consumer safety is a priority.
He said, “We are working closely with companies involved and educational groups to design a regulatory structure that ensures that the safety of these products is probably as much as much.”
However, critics argue that allowing industry players to affect the rules create a conflict of interests. PAT Thomas of Beyond GM warned, “FSA is likely to benefit companies involved in helping to attract these rules.”
The UK government supports the food innovation developed in the laboratory, seeing it as a way to promote the economy and create employment. Firms such as Ivy Farm Technologies in Oxford are ready to launch products such as cultivated stakes, but face long approval procedures.
Despite claims that lab-go foods are environmentally friendly and healthy, some doubt. “These ultra-processed foods were not previously in the human diet,” Thomas said, “Thomas said, raising concerns over their long-term effects.
