The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS)
have today published a new package of supplementary guidance for
businesses developing cell-cultivated products, the latest
milestone in the Cell-Cultivated Products (CCP) Sandbox
Programme.
The guidance covers regulatory authorisation and the assessment
of growth media components and toxicology. Together, they give
innovative food businesses clearer, more detailed advice on how
existing food regulations apply to cell-cultivated products,
helping them prepare stronger applications and understand the
standards they must meet to bring products safely to market in
Great Britain.
Dr Thomas Vincent, Deputy Director of Innovation, FSA,
said:
Each batch of guidance we publish makes the path to market
authorisation clearer and more predictable for companies
developing cell-cultivated products, while ensuring consumer
safety remains at the core of everything we do. Through the
Sandbox programme, we're building a shared understanding of how
food regulations apply to genuinely novel products, and turning
that understanding into practical guidance the whole sector can
benefit from.
The regulatory authorisation guidance sets out how the regulated
products framework applies to cell-cultivated products, including
how to handle changes to an authorised product. The growth media
and toxicology guidance gives detailed scientific direction on
assessing safety hazards linked to growth media components,
supporting businesses preparing dossiers for regulatory
review.
This is the third batch of guidance to come from the Sandbox
Programme, which launched in February 2025 and runs until
February 2027. Through the programme, the FSA and FSS work
directly with businesses to build regulatory understanding of
these products, using the insight gained to produce practical
guidance for the wider sector.
In addition to the Sandbox guidance, the FSA has recently
published research on cell-cultivated products, including a
review of
analytical methods for cell-cultivated products and how genetic
drift can impact the safety of cell-cultivated products. This
will be useful to applicants considering the evidence to include
in their market authorisation application.
Businesses can access all Sandbox guidance on the FSA's Innovative Foods
Guidance Hub and request support with their cell-cultivated
product market authorisation application through the Sandbox's
Business Support
Service, on GOV.UK.
