GOURMEY files the first EU novel food submission for cultured meat
In a world first, Gourmey, a Paris-based food startup, has requested approval for market access in five global markets: the European Union, Switzerland, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom.
Gourmey is the first company to request novel food approval for cultivated foods in the European Union. Its flagship cultivated duck is used to make foie gras.
The company has filed applications with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the United Kingdom, the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), and the European Commission (EC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to offer its flagship product to food enthusiasts, chefs, and restaurants, providing a new choice for foie gras enthusiasts.
Independently of the submission, Gourmey is part of a 35-strong consortium on the Horizon-funded FEASTS project, of which EIT Food is also a partner, dedicated to delivering a comprehensive, unbiased knowledge base about cultured meat and seafood, and their place in the food system.
Consumer safety front and centre
This is the first time a company has sought novel food approval for cultivated food from the European Commission. To support their novel food application, Gourmey has prepared a dossier in accordance with the relevant regulations and EFSA guidance, which is widely considered to represent the gold standard in novel food safety and risk assessment. Across many markets, robust regulatory frameworks have been established to assess the safety of novel foods such as cultivated foods. The US, Singapore and Israel have already approved their sale.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the regulatory authorities to ensure full compliance with safety requirements throughout these procedures,” said Gourmey’s CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest.
Gourmey is backed by a global network of partners to facilitate the company’s market entry, including fine food distributors, chef ambassadors, and supply chain and research partners. With traditionally produced foie gras presenting ethical objections which led it to be banned in a number of countries, Gourmey has reported commercial traction for its first product in many regions where chefs want to keep serving high-quality foie gras.
Growing meat consumption
Meat consumption is widely projected to double globally by 2050 so the need for diverse sources of protein has never been more apparent. A study commissioned by Gourmey, anticipating at-scale production, shows that the company’s technology significantly lowers greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use compared to conventional production in the same product category. The study was conducted under the external scientific leadership of Professor Hanna Tuomisto from the University of Helsinki and the Natural Resources Institute Finland, a leading European scholar and pioneer in the field of life cycle assessments of novel foods.
The FEASTS project posits that provided vital challenges are addressed, cultured meat and seafood hold the potential to transform animal protein production, helping meet growing global demand while mitigating the adverse environmental and health impacts related to intensive animal farming, as well as improving animal welfare. To understand and address these challenges, FEASTS is conducting rigorous analyses regarding the sustainability, ethics, nutritional value, health, and economic and societal impacts of cell-cultured meat and seafood. Results may reveal opportunities to effectively (re)organise the food system and establish resilient value chains in the EU.