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Food safety aspects of cell-based food

Background document three – Regulatory frameworks









FAO. 2022. Food safety aspects of cell-based food. Background document three – Regulatory frameworks. Rome.



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    Book (stand-alone)
    Food safety aspects of cell-based food 2023
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    Cell-based food production, which is the field of growing animal agricultural products directly from cell cultures, has been explored as an alleged sustainable alternative to the conventional livestock agricultural system. As commercial cell-based food production continues to expand, the urgency increases to address one of the most important questions of consumers, the question of food safety. Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), has developed the present document to engage with respective Members and relevant stakeholders by proactively sharing the current knowledge to identify concrete ways to inform consumers and all other stakeholders about the food safety considerations for cell-based food products. This document includes a literature synthesis of relevant terminology issues, principles of cell-based food production processes and the global landscape of regulatory frameworks for cell-based food production. Case studies from Israel, Qatar and Singapore have been included to highlight different scopes, structures and contexts surrounding their regulatory frameworks for cell-based food. The results of the FAO-led Expert Consultation, where comprehensive food safety hazard identification was conducted, form the core of the document and the identified hazards are summarized with causal-chain examples. The way forward will consist of continuing to invest in research and development in order to understand whether the alleged benefits in increased sustainability can be realized. In this regard, it will be important to closely observe as to what extent, if any, cell-based foods result in differences from conventionally produced foods.
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Nine things to know about food safety aspects of cell-based food 2023
    In April 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a milestone publication “Food safety aspects of cell-based food”. Here are nine things for those working in government in the area of food safety to know about cell-based foods.
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    Booklet
    Food safety aspects of cell-based food
    Background document two - Generic production process
    2022
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    Cell-based food production encompasses a variety of techniques and technologies that enable the production of animal proteins from in vitro grown animal or microbial cells. Most of them are currently under development and some are ready to be scaled up for commercialization. Cell-based food production can aim at producing a wide variety of products with different animal proteins from beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish and many others, including dairy and egg products. Therefore, it is not optimal to develop a detailed overview of the production process of cell-based food as a whole, but a generic understanding of a high-level process for cell-based food production can be illustrated. By having such a basic understanding, potential hazard identification, the first step in food safety assessment, can be initiated. To ensure the food safety of cell-based food products, it is important for the food safety competent authorities to identify specific potential hazards for effective national food control systems. The scientific literature review was conducted to provide an overview of the cell-based food production processes currently being practised. The document also illustrates a limited number of the key potential hazards that have been identified through the review of the available literature, although further work is necessary to provide a comprehensive list of food safety hazards. The document serves as a basis to initiate the first step of the appropriate food safety assessment, which will eventually support both cell-based food developers and regulators worldwide in making informed decisions on setting up food safety assurance systems.

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