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Israeli start-up company Aleph Farms has applied to the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) for approval to sell cultivated meat.
The UK is the second non-EU country to receive an application, following a similar request submitted by the same company in Switzerland at the end of July. It is thought that the approval process in the UK could take up to two years.
Lab grown “cultivated chicken” produced by two other companies was recently approved for sale in the US, following on from the first approval received in Singapore back in 2022, again for a chicken based product.
While the EU has not yet approved any cultivated meat products, last month the Dutch government agreed to conditions under which cultivated meat could be tasted in a controlled environment. However, the Italians have taken a different approach and are close to putting in place a law banning the production and import of cultivated meat products in an attempt to protect food heritage and consumer health.
The technology utilised by Aleph Farms creates a steak product, with cells taken from a fertilised egg out of a cow, grown in a temperature controlled environment using the likes of soy and wheat. Cuts are “harvested” after around four weeks.
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