A new report by Deloitte, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency, has proposed changes to the authorisation process of novel foods such as animal-free dairy and cultured meat. The review of the Novel Foods Regulatory Framework, which was incorporated into UK law after Brexit, suggests that updating the existing novel foods authorisation process could help bring foods with potential climate-mitigation potential to market faster. The report highlighted the need for balance between food safety, consumer interests, innovation, and the social and environmental impact of the food system.
The report acknowledged that “innovation is happening at pace”, and that with the option of updating regulations without obtaining consensus from other EU nations, the UK has the opportunity to tailor regulations to meet its needs. The report emphasised that good regulatory processes do not impose unnecessary barriers to innovation and went on to outline a series of suggestions.
These measures include allowing alternative proteins to be sold in the UK without the usual prolonged approvals process for novel foods, if they have been lawfully sold in other parts of the world. The report also suggested collaborative regulation, whereby the FSA could authorise novel foods based on decisions of food regulators in other jurisdictions, taking into account the fact that food innovation is global and rapid.
To ensure that the pace of innovation is sustainable in the long term and that evidence about safety may develop over time, the report suggests a conditional authorisation and supervision model, similar to that used in other sectors such as pharmaceuticals. Additionally, there could be a provision for grouping similar applications into high/medium/low risk cases, which could save time.
The report also suggested providing clarity on how businesses can conduct tastings under strict conditions to make the regulatory regime more business-friendly and innovation-centric. GFI Europe, a supporter of the cultivated meat sector, welcomed the report and said that the recommendations could pave the way for a robust and innovative approach to regulating foods such as cultivated meat and precision fermentation.
Overall, the report aims to refresh the regulatory process to support companies bringing their products to market and enable foods such as cultivated meat to come to market and deliver their benefits to British consumers quicker. This latest report comes a week after the government published its formal response to Professor Dame Angela McLean’s review on pro-innovation regulation for life sciences, which had recommended that the government support the Food Standards Agency to find ways to enable the acceleration of plans to reform the approval process for Novel Foods. The government has accepted the recommendation recognizing that technological advances are accelerating the development of novel foods, including in the alternative protein sector, which represents a commercial and economic opportunity for the UK.