Food produced from animal or plant cell and tissue cultures, also known as cultivated meat or cellular agriculture.
Cell-cultured food — also referred to as cultivated meat, cultured meat, or cellular agriculture products — is food produced by growing animal or plant cells in a controlled environment outside of the organism. This category is explicitly covered by Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, which includes "food consisting of, isolated from or produced from cell culture or tissue culture derived from animals, plants, micro-organisms, fungi or algae" in its definition of novel food.
As of 2026, no cell-cultured food has been authorised for sale in the EU. EFSA held a scientific colloquium on the safety assessment of cultured meat in 2024, signalling that applications are anticipated and that the existing novel food framework will be applied, potentially with additional considerations.
Key assessment challenges for cell-cultured food include: characterisation of the cell lines used (origin, genetic stability, immortalisation method if applicable), the composition and safety of the growth medium (including growth factors, scaffolds, and any animal-derived components), demonstrating batch-to-batch consistency in a production process that may not yet be fully industrialised, and addressing novel allergenicity concerns where the product differs structurally from its conventional counterpart.
The regulatory pathway for cell-cultured food in the EU is the standard novel food application under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.
Any food not significantly consumed in the EU before 15 May 1997.
Production ProcessSection 2 — a complete description of how the novel food is manufactured, including safety-relevant controls.
Allergenicity AssessmentSection 10 — evaluation of the novel food's potential to cause allergic reactions.
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