UK Food Standards Agency Publishes New Guidance for Cultivated Meat Approvals Amid EU Uncertainty

The UK’s Food Standards Agency has published the second tranche of guidance documents for cultivated meat regulation, just as the country pursues an EU trade agreement that could jeopardise approvals.

As the UK and the EU navigate a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, the former’s food regulator has released four new documents to guide companies seeking regulatory approval for novel foods.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), in collaboration with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), has posted the guidance through its ongoing cultivated meat sandbox programme, which runs until February and houses some of the alternative protein industry’s leading startups.

The publications are designed to give businesses the regulatory clarity they need to “invest in and develop innovative food products with confidence”, while ensuring that consumer safety remains the central focus of any route to market.

They come amid the SPS negotiation – a new version of which is slated to take effect in mid-2027 – which will make it easier and cheaper for goods to move between the EU and its former member state, including food products.

That could have a knock-on effect on cultivated meat startups, forcing them to go through the EU’s novel food process to sell their products in the UK, undoing much of the progress the UK has made over the last couple of years.

New publications span hygiene, microbiology, taste tests, and more

In December, the FSA published its first two pieces of guidance for cultivated meat companies, covering hygiene requirements, hazard analysis, and the scientific basis for evaluating the allergenicity and nutritional credentials of these products. One of the new documents builds on these, focusing on applying food business hygiene regulations to the production of cultivated meat.

The second new publication concerns identity, production and microbiology, offering detailed scientific requirements for assessing cultivated meat for market authorisation, including how to characterise cell lines, describe production processes, and manage microbiological hazards. 

Another is geared towards improving applications, with practical recommendations for companies to prepare stronger, more complete filings, addressing the most common reasons they face delays or requests for further information.

And finally, the fourth guidance document provides supplementary information on novel food taste trials, helping firms understand their responsibilities when conducting such trials as part of their R&D activities. It supports similar advice published last year.

“Developments in the innovative food sector can support a healthier and more resilient food system while also contributing to the UK government’s ambitions for a growing, modern economy. But that potential will only be realised if businesses have the regulatory clarity to invest and the confidence to scale up,” said FSA chair Susan Jebb.

“We want businesses to have the clearest possible picture of what is required to bring safe products to market,” added FSA deputy innovation director Thomas Vincent. “This guidance reflects the knowledge we have built through engagement with industry and academia through the sandbox, and is designed to make the path to authorisation more transparent and efficient.”

Regulatory sandboxes are controlled environments that allow businesses and researchers to work with regulators to design standards and guidance for new products. The FSA and the FSS have been working with several industry members since February 2025 as part of their programme, which is funded by the Department of Science and Technology.

“The sandbox programme runs until February 2027, and we’re focused on delivering its objectives of answering regulatory questions and providing clarity to the cell-cultivated product industry,” Joshua Ravenhill, head of the FSA sandbox, told Green Queen.

“We’ll consider next steps in due course. We are proud of what the programme has delivered for food safety and the industry, and will consider how its outcomes have a legacy beyond February.”

EU trade deal creates uncertainty around UK novel food regulation

The sandbox was part of the UK government’s efforts to overhaul its novel food regulatory framework, which was still following the EU-era path. That has led several startups to amp up their focus on the country, with Aleph Farms, Parima‘s Gourmey and Vital Meat, Ivy Farm Technologies, and Mosa Meat all having filed for approval.

In March, the FSA published a report on innovative food technologies most likely to enter the UK market over the next decade. According to the Times, it’s hoping to complete safety evaluations of two cultivated meat products by the time the sandbox ends, although the regulator suggests there’s “no fixed timeline” for this.

Green Queen understands that the applications from Gourmey (duck) and Vital Meat (chicken) are the furthest along the line, each having been validated and entering the risk assessment process. Following this, the FSA would need to “consider other legitimate factors and consult on product applications” before making a recommendation to ministers, who will decide whether to issue the approval.

However, the FSA’s aim of fast-tracking cultivated meat approvals could be sidetracked by the new SPS agreement, which the regulator is closely monitoring for any regulatory implications.

The agency reportedly wrote to around 600 approval holders and businesses in April, warning that the new trade deal could render UK authorisations void and require them to follow the EU’s process instead, which is notoriously complex and long (it can take up to six years). This will only apply to human food, though, so Meatly‘s cultivated chicken for pets – approved in 2024 – will be unaffected.

The FSA’s new guidance reflects existing British food law and will remain relevant regardless of the outcome, with hygiene requirements and taste trial advice still applying to businesses operating in the country.

The technical guidance on identity, production, microbiology, and improving dossiers will be relevant for firms applying to either the British or EU system, and could also be useful for those figuring out how to demonstrate hazard mitigation in other jurisdictions.

There’s a lot riding on the new SPS deal, which has bred uncertainty about the future of novel food regulation in the UK. The FSA’s guidance does make it easier for companies to navigate the process, whether or not it changes.