Meat grown from quail cells is safe to eat, Australia's food safety regulator has found in its first assessment of lab-grown meat.
Key points:
- The Australian food regulator's first assessment of cell-cultured quail meat has found it is safe to eat
- Quail grown from cells has no allergy or nutrition risks
- The initial assessment is expected to pave the way for the industry to grow
The application from Sydney-based company Vow has passed the first stage needed to sell the meat to consumers.
Eating the cultured quail meat presented no health or nutritional risks, food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) said in its assessment.
FSANZ also said the "novel" food is genetically stable and bacteria-related risks were "very low".
Meanwhile, the regulator has proposed using the term "cell-cultured" on labelling.
'Exciting' development
Vow co-founder and chief executive George Peppou said the company was pleased its application was progressing following months of assessments.
"Safety is of the utmost importance to Vow, so we were glad to see that, like us, FSANZ has concluded that our product is safe," Mr Peppou said.
While it was still early days, this Australia-first assessment could pave the way for the growth of the cell-cultured meat market.
"This is an exciting step, not least because it's the first of its kind in Australia," said Simon Eassom, executive director of think tank Food Frontier.
"Innovative food technologies are going to become an essential means of meeting the growing demand for meat without adding further to ecological and environmental degradation.
"We're seeing technology develop on a daily basis here."
Meat production has come under the spotlight at international climate talks this month.
A sustainable food road map from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN says wealthy countries will need to cut back red meat production to meet environmental targets.
Emerging market
Dr Eassom said Australia needed to back the industry if it wanted to lead the growing global cell-cultured meat market.
China's five-year agricultural plan includes cultured and plant-based meats, with Shanghai-based CellX opening a pilot cultured meat facility in August.
CellX is looking to grow seafood, chicken, and wagyu beef.
If Vow's application to sell its cultured quail is approved, it will make Australia the third country to allow the sale of cultivated meat.
The United States approved cultured chicken for sale in June after Singapore took the lead in 2020.
The public can now comment on FSANZ's risk assessment process, which focused on the first three stages of cell-based food production.
Once submissions are considered the regulator will deliver a verdict, which will be released for public consultation next year.