Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to investigate the potential (a) acceptance of and (b) need for regulation on cultured meat as a food source.

In 2019, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) commissioned a study on consumer views towards emerging technologies including cultured meat. The FSA also plans further work on consumer perceptions of cultured meat, with the findings due in early 2022. Cultured meats would require pre-market authorisation as they are likely to be novel foods and any applications would need to be assessed for safety under the process required by the Novel Food Regulations 2015/2283. This authorisation process will take consumer views into account in any recommendations to the Government.