Identification of hazards in meat products manufactured from cultured animal cells: conclusion

There are several areas where the data is lacking or more information is needed to truly understand the risk or hazard that these new products may pose. Largely in the scientific literature, data is missing on how this new product compares to meat that it may replace. Overall, more work is needed from both the cultured meat industry and from regulators to bridge the gap in understanding the hazards that individual products may pose. This could further inform the types of information needed from manufacturers to assess the safety of products before they reach the market.

Furthermore, to reassure the public, it is important to emphasise that we currently anticipate that these new products will come under novel foods regulations in the UK. Therefore, each individual product will need pre-market approval and will need to be assessed by a panel of independent experts for potential risks in: allergy, toxicity, reduced nutrition etc (please refer to FSA web-site for more details) as well as Annex A below.