Aleph Farms seeks UK approval for sale of cell-based meat.
Aleph Farms, an Israel-based company, has submitted an application to the UK’s food regulator for approval to sell its cell-based meat product, Aleph Cuts. This follows its previous submission in Switzerland, as Aleph Farms aims to enter both markets.
Established in 2017, Aleph Farms has received investments from major players in the agri-food industry such as Cargill, BRF, and Thai Union Group.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) is expected to take up to two years to review Aleph Farms’ application.
The FSA confirmed receipt of the submission but cannot provide further details until the application is listed on a publicly available register of regulated product applications.
Currently, Singapore and the US are the only countries that have approved the commercial sale of cell-cultivated food.
In the US, Upside Foods and Good Meat were recently approved to sell cultivated chicken after a joint regulatory process by the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. However, these products are available only at select restaurants.
Aleph Farms’ application in the UK has been welcomed by the Good Food Institute (GFI), which advocates for sustainable protein alternatives. The GFI highlights the importance of the UK progressing with planned reforms to novel foods regulations to support the growth of cultivated meat companies and harness the climate and economic benefits.
Efforts to develop cell-based agriculture and alternative proteins are also underway in other European countries, such as the establishment of a Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub in the UK and research at Aarhus University in Denmark to reduce the costs of cell-based food production.
Conversely, the Italian government has announced plans to ban cell-based food to protect its traditional food heritage.