EFSA has identified cultivated meat and precision fermentation as priority areas for food innovation and is calling for stronger scientific expertise, alongside more proactive risk assessments, to keep up with the pace of change.
This call to industry comes as EFSA releases a new paper highlighting concerns that uncertainty over regulatory data requirements is contributing to lengthy novel food approval delays.
Currently, EFSA’s guidance outlines high-level scientific requirements for applications but does not provide an exhaustive list of the information companies must submit. According to the paper, this lack of clarity can lead to lengthy authorisation delays for manufacturers investing in food innovation.
The paper adds that a proactive, rather than reactive, risk assessment approach would help the sector better keep pace with emerging production technologies.
As a result, non-profit think tank the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) is calling for novel foods to be included in so-called regulatory sandboxes, which would offer controlled, time-limited environments allowing regulators to develop their understanding of emerging production processes, particularly alternative proteins.
This is in direct contrast to the European Commission’s proposed Biotech Act sandbox scheme, which could exclude novel foods. However, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Environment, Climate and Food Safety Committee (ENVI), alongside member states including Germany and the Netherlands, have asked for the proposed blanket exclusion to be reconsidered.
The debate is set to come to a head over the coming months, but GFI Europe believes greater regulatory preparedness and clearer application requirements could help reduce uncertainty and delays when seeking EU market authorisation. It argues that a more streamlined process would be particularly beneficial for developers of novel foods.
Lea Seyfarth, policy manager at GFI Europe, said: “EFSA’s food safety assessment processes are among the most robust in the world, and it’s positive to see the agency acknowledge the need to keep pace with innovation and develop a more proactive system that avoids unnecessary delays.
“Regulatory sandboxes would be a particularly powerful tool to boost regulatory preparedness and learn about new food innovations. In order to build a future-proof regulatory system, EU policymakers must look at the evidence and reverse the Commission’s proposal to exclude novel foods from the Biotech Act’s sandbox scheme.”
