Is the FDA up to the task of reviewing the coming onslaught of lab-made cell-based meat and seafood?
One of the most innovative food products expected to enter U.S. markets in coming years is cell-cultured meat and seafood. Producing these products by culturing cells in tanks and forming them into foods that look and taste like their conventionally produced counterparts is a technological achievement.   Unfortunately, we have serious concerns that the process the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be planning to use to review the safety of cell-cultured meat and seafood is inadequate and will undermine consumer trust. From our perspective, the manufacturing process for cell-cultured meat and seafood is a significant departure from current practice and warrants careful scrutiny. FDA guidance is clear that, for these types of changes, the appropriate review options are a food additive petitions or the voluntary Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification process. We strongly recommend FDA rely on these existing options existing options rather than create a new approach. Subscribe to our newsletter. SIGN UP  While we anticipate that product developers will make safety a top priority, the potential for mistakes is too great and the conflicts of interest too strong for them to unilaterally make the decisions without independent oversight and public scrutiny. Read the original post