The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the UK’s first safety guidance for cell-cultivated products (CCPs), marking a major step towards regulating emerging “lab-grown” food technologies.
The guidance, produced with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), outlines how businesses developing foods grown from animal cells must apply existing food safety regulations and demonstrate that products meet the same standards as conventional meat.
Cell-cultivated foods are made by taking cells from plants or animals and growing them into edible products – avoiding the need for traditional farming. The FSA and FSS’s CCP Sandbox Programme, which focuses only on animal cell-based foods, is intended to remove uncertainty for innovators while ensuring regulatory robustness.
The first set of guidance confirms that cell-cultivated products using animal cells are legally considered products of animal origin. This classification means that established hygiene and safety rules must be followed throughout production. Additional guidance sets out how businesses should assess allergenicity risks and demonstrate nutritional suitability when applying for market authorisation.
Dr Thomas Vincent, deputy director of innovation at the FSA, said the clarity will help companies prepare credible applications for approval. “Our new guidance provides clarity for businesses, helping them to understand and correctly demonstrate to UK food regulators how their products are safe,” he said. “Consumers can be reassured that these innovative new foods will meet the same rigorous safety standards as conventional foods.”
He added that the Sandbox approach enables regulators to “fast-track regulatory knowledge to reduce barriers for emerging food technologies without compromising on safety standards.”
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Backed by the Department of Science and Technology’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund, the programme uses a science-based framework to support innovation while ensuring consumer protection. Further guidance for CCPs is expected throughout 2026 as the UK refines its approach to overseeing the new category.