Submission to sell cultivated beef in Switzerland is good news, say supporters, but a coherent EU strategy is lacking. David Burrows reports.
Switzerland has become the first country in Europe to receive an application to sell cultivated meat.
Israeli startup Aleph Farms submitted an application to Swiss regulators to sell its cultivated beef. The move is part of a collaboration with Migros, Switzerland’s largest food enterprise, which has been assessing the country’s specific regulatory approval process.
Some 74% of Swiss consumers are open to trying cultivated meat and are motivated to try it chiefly by curiosity and a desire to align with principles like sustainability and animal welfare, according to consumer research conducted by the companies.
Seth Roberts, policy manager at the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI), an NGO working to advance plant-based and cultivated meat, said cultivated meat represents a “huge opportunity” for Switzerland to enhance its food security and create future-proof jobs, as it positions itself as a hub for food innovation.
However, he bemoaned the lack of applications arriving in Brussels. With Italy trying to ban cultivated meat while countries like the Netherlands invest, Europe is sending “mixed messages” to companies who need certainty to be able to deliver on their potential, Roberts explained. “The EU must develop a coherent strategy to support the sustainable protein sector and ensure regulatory processes are clear, in order to reap the benefits of cultivated meat,” he added.
Aleph Farms’ submission comes just over a month after two cultivated chicken products were approved for sale following safety evaluations in the US. Cultivated meat has been available in Singapore since December 2020.
For cultivated meat to be sold in Switzerland, companies like Aleph Farms must apply for authorisation from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) by submitting a safety dossier. The process includes a safety assessment and extensive toxicological studies to demonstrate the safety of the food, and is expected to take at least 12 months.
Before a cultivated meat product can be sold in EU member states, it must be approved by regulators in a process governed by the Novel Foods Regulation. This will include a thorough and evidence-based assessment of the safety and nutritional value of cultivated meat and is estimated to take at least 18 months. GFI Europe said it is not aware of any applications for pre-market authorisation of cultivated meat having been made to the EU to date.
UK opportunity
The UK actually has the richest landscape of cellular agriculture companies in Europe, according to ProVeg, which campaigns for the adoption of plant-based diets, with 12 companies that are working on cultivated meat, cultivated fat, cell-line developments, or bioreactor systems.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently scoped out the potential risks and hazards of producing meat from animal cells. The agency is currently considering changes to the regulatory approval process that could stimulate approvals, and in turn investment and innovation in novel foods like cultivated meats and animal-free dairy products.
An FSA survey on alternative proteins published in 2022 showed UK consumers remain unsure about cultivated meat. Over three quarters (77%) of respondents perceived plant-based proteins as being safe to eat compared to 50% for edible insects and 30% for lab-grown meat. Six in ten (60%) were willing to try plant-based proteins, compared to around a third (34%) who were willing to try lab-grown meat and just over a quarter (26%) who were willing to try edible insects.
Cultivated meat is anticipated to be greener. Recent research for example pointed to the lower environmental impact of cultivated meat, especially beef. How much substitution may be required and the emissions savings potential of cultivated meats remain unclear, however.
For cultivated chicken and pork the carbon footprints are closer to traditionally-reared meats, but scale and renewable energy sources could result in the impact of cultivated meats falling further. “It’s impossible for the UK to reach net-zero by 2050 without addressing emissions from our food system,” GFI Europe policy manager Ellie Walden told MPs and government officials at a UK parliamentary event in May 2022.
There is also increasing interest in ‘hybrid’ products that include cultivated meat and plant-based proteins. Singapore now has an innovation centre dedicated to such products, which can be cheaper to make and offer nutritional benefits, such as added fibre.
UK academics last year claimed that swapping half the beef in the burgers sold by McDonald’s and Burger King to plants – that is, selling hybrid burgers – could save a combined 51MtCO2e. That’s more than 80% of the way to meeting both companies’ net-zero targets. Swap the beef for cultivated beef and the positive carbon impact could be greater still.
