NEW TECH FOODS

Swiss cultivated meat producer, Mirai Foods, has entered into a strategic partnership with Shiok Meats subsidiary Gaia Foods, to develop cultivated beef products in Singapore. The partnership will see the exchange of know-how and supplies to bring cultivated beef to Singapore. Mirai will supply Gaia with its bovine muscle and fat stem cells. The company says these are natural, highly pure, non-genetically modified cells “collected from premium cattle breeds”. Christoph Mayr, CEO at Mirai, said: “We are excited to partner with one of the world’s leading cultivated seafood producers and their subsidiary cultivated meat company to extend the culinary choice for Singaporean consumers to premium, Swiss quality cultivated beef. Partnering with a Singaporean company is particularly interesting for us given the country’s strong distribution and partnership network across the Asia Pacific region, which has been showing a growing appetite for safe, high-quality beef.” Meanwhile, Shiok will provide Mirai with its regulatory information and expertise, gained from being “located in the first country in the world to approve the sale of cultivated meat and home to the largest cultivated meat facility in Asia”. Sandhya Sriram, group CEO at Shiok Meats and Gaia Foods, added: “This partnership is the result of a strong relationship we have been building with MIRAI. We already started working with Mirai’s stem cells and are very happy with their performance. Whilst we will leverage our regulatory status and expertise to help Mirai accelerate its market entry in Singapore, we are also eyeing on potential production and distribution of our seafood products in Switzerland, a high purchasing power market with a strong first adoption mindset.” #ShiokMeats #MiraiFoods #Switzerland #Singapore #GaiaFoods

Mosa Meat is scaling up its cultured beef production to industrial levels after co-founder Mark Post debuted the first cultivated hamburger in 2013. A new industrial production development centre is being developed near to Mosa Meat’s existing pilot facility in Maastricht, the Netherlands. After demonstrating its process at pilot scale, Mosa Meat says that it is ready for the next phase of its expansion, featuring industrial-size production lines that enable larger quantities of beef. “We’ve expanded our space by 30,000-square-feet in our next phase, which brings Mosa Meat’s total footprint to over 77,000-square-feet,” said Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat. “This makes us the largest cultivated meat campus in the world and provides a solid foundation for our European and global commercialisation plans.” Mosa Meat’s mission is to help to fundamentally reshape the global food system, and it is focusing on offering an alternative to traditional beef as the protein with the biggest carbon footprint. #MosaMeat #theNetherlands

Cultivated seafood company Forsea Foods has raised $5.2 million in a seed round led by Berlin-based investment firm, Target Global. Forsea was founded last year with the mission to preserve the fish population by creating a viable alternative to wild-caught seafood and is initally focusing on growing eel meat, which it says is in high demand for kabayaki and sushi. According to Forsea, it is the first company to use organoid technology to culture seafood products. The food tech start-up uses a non-GMO organoid platform in which the eel meat is grown as a three-dimensional tissue structure in the same manner it would grow in a living fish. Roee Nir, CEO and co-founder of Forsea, said: “We can produce a product identical in flavour, texture, appearance and nutritional values to real eel. [The] organoid platform allows us to design the fish fillet exactly as it grows in the fish, that is in a three-dimensional structure, without growing the fat and muscle tissues separately.” The company says that its technique requires fewer bioreactors and represents a more simplified and cost-effective process than traditional cell culturing, making the final product more affordable. Forsea will inaugurate its pilot plant in 2023 – allowing the company to scale up and launch its first products – and also plans to accelerate research and development on growing eel meat and developing the process for other fish species. “We are extremely pleased to invest in Forsea and welcome the company into our growing portfolio,” commented Yoni Glickman, managing partner of FoodSparks by PeakBridge. “Forsea has demonstrated breakthrough technology, having recruited an experienced team to solve a significant problem in the food system caused by overfishing and habitat loss.” #Forsea #TargetGlobal #Israel

JBT-owned A&B Process Systems has launched a new technology for cultivated meat processors. ReadyGo Bioreactor is said to meet global standards for bio-processing and offers customers flexibility and customisation to suit their unique processes. The solution was designed to assist industry processors in addressing issues such as “scalability, lead time and capital expense” without adding unnecessary costs to production. According to the company, benefits from the ReadyGo Bioreactor include: “working volume ranges from 20 litres to 20,000 litres for cell-cultured materials and easy integration with JBT media preparation, harvest/hold and CIP/SIP systems, as well as protein preparation and packaging lines, allowing the quick implementation to configure the unit and minimising the time-to-market”. Schoen Paschka, director of sales and marketing at A&B Process Systems, said: “As a vertically integrated supplier that controls its own supply chain, A&B is positioned to help the industry scale to the ever-growing demand for cell-based proteins. “We are doing so in a way that not only integrates into the customer’s preferred component suppliers’ current system, but we are able to offer our recommendations based on tenured experience if those don’t exist. This results in quality and schedules our customers can rely on in this capital-intensive sector.” Carlos Fernandez, JBT’s EVP of customer sustainability and market development, added: “JBT and A&B Process Systems are committed to helping our customers achieve sustainable solutions to the emerging challenges within the food supply. As a global leader in both upstream and downstream processing solutions to the protein market, we view the success of the cultivated meat markets not only as strategic to our own success but to meet protein demand for a growing global population successfully.” #ABProcessSystems #US

Scottish food and ag-tech company, Roslin Tech, has closed its Series A funding round led by Novo Holdings. The company secured £11 million during the raise, which will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and its mission to become a leading provider of animal cell lines in the fast-paced cultivated meat sector. Roslin Tech has developed pluripotent animal stem cells that have the ability to “self-renew indefinitely and differentiate into desired end-tissues for meat”. The company currently has customers in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The funds will be used to expand its cell line and further address the protocols for commercial scale-up of its cells for meat production. This will be carried out in collaboration with its customers, as well as the University of Edinburgh. The company says it will also invest in its insect venture, which focuses on “breeding better insects for the emerging insect protein sector, a promising regenerative agricultural technique”. Other investors in the round include Kairos Capital Group, Nutreco, Future Planet Capital, Esco Lifesciences, Alchimia, and private investors. Ernst van Orsouw, CEO of Roslin Tech, said: “We are excited to welcome Novo Holdings and other investors on our journey to improve the food system. With the investment and strategic support, we can accelerate the development of better cells for the sector and focus on making our customers successful.” Nis Bak, principal of Novo Holdings and new board member, added: “We’ve been impressed with Roslin Technologies’ team and innovative technologies, which have the potential to materially improve the production of novel, sustainable proteins. We are excited to invest alongside a strong syndicate of investors whose joint vision for Roslin Technologies and complementary capabilities will be a great asset to the company in its continued development.” #RoslinTechnologies #Scotland #Edinburgh #NovoHoldings

Umami Meats has announced a research partnership with Waters Corporation, as it looks to speed up the development of an efficient process for producing cultivated seafood. Singapore-based Umami is working to provide a sustainable alternative to wild-caught fish – with a focus on species that are unsuitable for farming and endangered due to growing consumption. The food tech start-up is collaborating with food and nutrition scientists at speciality measurement company Waters to develop laboratory methods for cultivating fish. The Waters research lab in Singapore aims to expedite advancements in food and water safety by facilitating collaborations with industry and academic experts. Umami Meats is utilising the analytical technologies and food science expertise available within Waters to optimise production efficiency on the path to process scale-up. In addition, the partnership will provide the baseline for future work in the area of process control automation. “Over 2 trillion fish are caught every year for human consumption, and because most of these species cannot be farmed, many are being driven to extinction by overfishing,” said Mihir Pershad, CEO of Umami Meats. “Our collaboration with Waters Corporation is a significant step towards developing an efficient, cost-effective process for producing cultivated fish. We strongly believe in the value of analytical data from scientific research tools to advance our development process and product quality, and we are excited by what will be possible with the network and support of the food and nutrition scientists at Waters’ research laboratory in Singapore.” David Curtin, vice president Asia Pacific at Waters Corporation, added: “By collaborating with industry and academic experts we can help to expedite the efficient production of cultivated seafood for safe consumption and drive advancements in food and water safety research”. “Both Umami Meats and Waters share a common vision that innovative research is essential to the future safety and sustainability of our food and water supplies.” #WatersCorporation #UmamiMeats #Singapore

Vow has raised $49.2 million in a Series A funding round that it says marks a record for the cell-based meat industry. Vow – which claims to be Australia’s first cell-based meat company – plans to use the funding for product development, manufacturing expansion and hiring across new divisions. CEO and co-founder of the company, George Peppou, said: “By inventing new meats that are tastier, more nutritious and serve functions traditional meats can’t, we can have an enormous impact. We’re thrilled to be toe to toe with the best companies in this space, moving at speed to reach huge milestones with a fraction of the capital of other companies.” Vow is introducing its first product brand, Morsel, to the Singapore market this year and expanding its manufacturing capabilities with the construction of its Factory 2. The Series A round was co-led by Blackbird and Prosperity7 Ventures, the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures, and was joined by a large pool of additional investors. Aysar Tayeb, executive managing director for Prosperity7 Ventures, commented: “Every choice Vow has made in its approach is thoughtfully aimed to accelerate acceptance and commercialisation of cell-cultured protein, including the deep application of technology and expanding the box to include thousands of cell lines to optimise taste, nutrition, and accelerate cell growth and cost down. We are thrilled to be a part of Vow’s pioneering journey to transform how food is made.” #Vow #Australia

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its first pre-market consultation with Upside Foods to examine human food made from cultured cells. FDA concluded that it had “no further questions” about the way Upside produces its cell-cultured chicken. FDA stated, however, that before the food can enter the market, the facility that produces Upside’s chicken will also need to meet applicable US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA requirements, including facility registration for the cell culture portion. FDA said in a statement that it is committed to working with additional businesses developing cultured meats to help bring products to market. “The FDA is ready to work with additional firms developing cultured animal cell food and production processes to ensure their products are safe and lawful under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act”. “We also plan to issue guidance to assist firms that intend to produce human foods from cultured animal cells to prepare for pre-market consultations,” said the statement. “The published draft of this guidance will provide a formal opportunity to the public for comment. We are already engaged in discussions with multiple firms about various types of products made from cultured animal cells, including those made from seafood cells, which will be overseen solely by the FDA.” “Our goal is to support innovation in food technologies while always maintaining as our priority the production of safe food. Human food made with cultured animal cells must meet the same stringent requirements, including safety requirements, as all other food.” #UpsideFoods #FDA #US

Bel Brands USA has launched two plant-based or animal-free cheese alternatives, The Laughing Cow Plant-Based and Nurishh Incredible Dairy cream cheese spread. Shannon Maher, chief marketing officer at Bel Brands USA, said: “…we’re thrilled to unveil new innovations from both our most well-known brand with the launch of The Laughing Cow Plant-Based as well as leveraging new technology through a partnership with Perfect Day to launch our breakthrough animal-free offering with Nurishh Incredible Dairy”. The Laughing Cow Plant-Based is a vegan alternative to the classic Laughing Cow creamy spreadable cheese. Nurishh’s animal-free cream cheese spread alternative is said to provide the same taste as traditional cream cheese as it contains real dairy proteins without using cows. The lactose-free spread, developed in partnership with Perfect Day, is created through precision fermentation, a process that offers complete dairy protein without involving any animals. CEO and co-founder of Perfect Day, Ryan Pandya, said: “This announcement marks an exciting step towards giving even more consumers the ability to try what’s possible when Perfect Day’s innovative animal-free protein is used by a best-in-class dairy leader. Consumers around the country will now be able to try kinder, greener animal-free cream cheese and make a delicious choice for the future of our planet.” Nurishh Dairy will be available in chive and onion, original and strawberry flavours for an RRP of $4.99 at select US retailers from January 2023. The Laughing Cow Plant-Based will be available in select retailers in original and garlic and herb varieties for an RRP of $5.49. #Nurishh #BelGroup #PerfectDay #US #precisionfermentation

Cultivated meat, also known as cell-cultured meat, is a product produced from the stem cells of animals. These cells are cultivated, and their tissues are engineered to produce the end product. Production processes are constantly evolving with companies across the world competing to make cultivated meat a viable commercial proposition. Singapore has already granted approval for cultivated meat though it is not currently authorised for sale in the UK or EU. The UK and EU share a similar regulatory framework for now but there is scope post-Brexit for the UK to diverge away from EU law. The applicable UK regulatory framework Cultivated meat must be authorised as a “novel food” under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 (as retained in UK law) if it is to be lawfully placed on the UK market. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) deals with applications for the authorisation of novel foods in the UK. We also understand that certain methods of cultivating meat might fall within the scope of regulations governing Genetically Modified Food, though we understand this is not the industry’s preferred route to approval. Novel foods will only be authorised by the FSA if: The food does not pose (on the basis of the scientific evidence available) a safety risk to human health. The food’s intended use does not mislead the customer, especially when the food is intended to replace another food and there is a significant change in the nutritional value. Where novel food is intended to replace another food, it must not differ in a way that the consumption of the novel food would be nutritionally disadvantageous for the consumer. The FSA states in their novel foods authorisation guidance that approval may take up to 17 months, noting that the clock can be stopped and re-started if further information is required. The quality of the application will significantly affect the time needed for assessment and authorisation. Post-Brexit The UK is free to diverge from the EU-derived novel foods system and it has explicitly stated in a policy paper in January 2022 that for new and exciting areas with significant innovation such as cultivated meats, the government will deliver a distinct regulatory framework that provides an economic advantage. In June 2022, Victoria Prentis, the then Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food said that the FSA is using the freedoms of Brexit to review the novel foods regulatory framework. That, however, as far as we are aware, is the extent of the UK government’s public commitment to regulatory reform and we await further detail in due course about how this new or revised regulatory framework might look and the timescales for its inception. What we can say is that the UK government will be looking for urgent ways of showcasing the benefits of Brexit and we expect that any new or revised regulatory framework for the approval of cultivated meat and other new technologies is likely to offer a more streamlined approach to approval. Regulatory challenges We predict that the main regulatory challenges facing cultivated meat are in relation to safety and labelling. Safety Producers of cultivated meat will need to prove to the FSA that their product does not pose a safety risk to human health. Full copies of all pertinent scientific data must be provided along with study reports and scientific opinions of national/international regulatory bodies. There may be some comfort that Singapore has granted approval for the sale of cultivated meat, however scientific data and studies may not reflect new and emerging large-scale production methods which may increase risks including those related to microbial and viral contamination. It may therefore take a significant amount of time for the FSA to assess the safety of the end product and approve it for sale. Labelling The Food Information to Consumers Regulations, as retained in UK law, apply to cultivated meat products. Under these regulations, food information shall not be misleading in relation to characteristics such as identity, composition and method of manufacture or production. Cultivated meat producers must therefore pay specific attention to the labelling of the product to ensure the information on the label does not mislead the consumer. We can foresee issues arising where messages conveyed are inaccurate or not substantiated in relation to the foods in question. For example, should cultivated meat products be described as ‘meat’ or should additional words be used to avoid misleading the consumer? If cultivated meat is granted approval by the FSA, we expect the FSA to impose labelling conditions generic enough to reflect different production methods. Alternatively, will those marketing cultivated meat products prefer the terms ‘animal free’ or ‘meat free’? These may technically be true, however, the very nature of the process of cultivated meat may result in these descriptions being misleading. This may be particularly challenging given the differences in production methods and the exact source of animal stem cells. If cultivated meat becomes more cost-effective to produce than conventional meat, we are also likely to see a rise in the popularity of combined cultivated and conventional livestock meat products, which could also present labelling challenges, including the mislabelling of the proportion of cultivated to conventional meat.

Developer of edible, plant-based scaffolds and microcarriers for the alternative protein industry, Matrix FT, has announced “Ohio’s first cultivated chicken”. Matrix FT’s engineering labs and biological testing facilities conduct cell culture experiments to test performance, food safety and sterility on the company’s scaffolds and microcarriers. The alt-protein developer also offers contract research services for cultivated meat companies in their biological testing facilities. The microcarriers that Matrix FT produces are used to grow cells in bioreactors for cultivated meat products. In a statement, the company said: “Scaffolds are used to proliferate, mature and differentiate cells, signalling gene expressions and protein expression, turning cells into complex tissue structures, or cultivated meat”. Matrix FT enables its customers to develop cell-based meat and dairy products by providing 3D extracellular matrixes on which cells can grow and proliferate. They also provide the product with texture and thickness. The chicken nugget is proof of concept and demonstrates how microcarriers and scaffolds contribute as a key ingredient to a cultivated meat project. Primary chicken myoblasts were obtained from a university partner and were cultivated, harvested and combined with a mixture of plant-based proteins to create a cookable, hybrid chicken nugget which was breaded and served at an internal tasting. “It had a great flavour, texture, and we were delighted to give a small example of how our customisable products can contribute to each of our customers’ unique cell-based foods that they are going to take to market,” said Heidi Coia, director of product development and innovation at Matrix FT. #MatrixFT #US

FrieslandCampina has partnered with specialist biotechnology company, Triplebar Bio Inc, to scale up production of cell-based proteins using precision fermentation. California-based company Triplebar uses software, biology and biochemistry to develop products and biological production systems “that replicate and accelerate evolution found in nature”. Through precision fermentation, the two companies will produce microbial cells that can create bioactive proteins that support nutrition in early life and adulthood, with the ambition of producing high-quality proteins with a limited land, water and energy footprint. Maria Cho, CEO of Triplebar, commented: “We need to leverage science and technology to make high-quality food affordably and sustainably. Biotechnology can reduce pressure on traditional food production systems while making the food system more robust and boosting nutrition for everyone, from babies to adults. Through this multi-year, multi-product and multi-country agreement with FrieslandCampina Ingredients, we will help make this ambition a reality.” Anne Peter Lindeboom, managing director of innovation at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, said: “Together, I’m certain that FrieslandCampina Ingredients and Triplebar will accelerate the use of precision fermentation as a nutritious and sustainable source of protein. By offering a full range of dairy and alternative proteins side by side, we aim to give people access to the nutritional solutions they need now and for generations to come.” In a statement, FrieslandCampina said: “The partnership reaffirms the commitment of both companies to develop innovative and futureproof protein solutions that improve human health”. #FrieslandCampina #Triplebar #US