Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is undertaking the second round of public consultation on an application to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to permit the use of cell-cultured quail as a food.
This is the first cell-cultured food produced in Australia and assessed by FSANZ. The application from Vow Group Pty Ltd seeks approval to use cultured quail cells in combination with other ingredients to make products such as logs, rolls and patties.
The approval process by FSANZ has been ongoing for a year, with a round of submissions opening in December last year. FSANZ also ran survey, which suggested consumers would be concerned about the safety cell-cultured meat.
However, based on a comprehensive scientific assessment, FSANZ found no safety concerns with using cell-cultured quail as a food.
Cell cultured meat has passed through approvals in other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom. Italy has banned the use of it, describing it as Frankenstein. Some states in the US, have banned the use of terms like “meat” and “beef” in labelling it.
As a commercial product, cell based meat has also been struggling, with start ups funding its development struggling to scale up and make it viable. Asked whether he thought it was going to displace livestock production, independent expert Professor Paul Wood said “Don’t sell the farm”.
What FSANZ is proposing
Rather than approving cultured quail cells as a novel food, FSANZ is proposing a standards-based approach which will allow the sale of Vow’s product and any cell-cultured food that passes a pre-market assessment by FSANZ.
As part of its assessment, FSANZ recommends labelling these foods as either ‘cell-cultured’ or ‘cell-cultivated’ to help consumers make informed choices.
FSANZ has prepared two draft standards, a new schedule and various consequential variations which will apply to all future cell-cultured foods. This new standards-based approach will provide a clearer regulatory framework to support innovation.
FSANZ now invites submissions on its final assessment and the proposed measures set out in the 2nd CFS and four supporting documents.
- To have your say about this application, visit the FSANZ Consultation Hub. Submissions close at 6pm (AEDT) on 24 December, 2024.
WE need to follow Italy and ban cell cultured food. It does not fit with Australia’s clean green image.
Agree with other comments in that approving such foods is the thin edge of the wedge
Two sayings come to mind. The first is “putting out the garbage”, which is mostly used to describe the political trick of releasing something controversial on the eve of some big event, in the hope that everyone is too preoccupied to notice. In this case, submissions close on Christmas eve. Fancy that
The other saying is “thin edge of the wedge”, which is what recommending, rather than compelling, these products to be branded ‘cell cultured’ or ‘cell cultivated’, represents.
The healthiest diet is : Food that contains only one ingredient!
The health of people should be the only consideration…… not the $$$$$$$$