Food Safety and Inspection Service Seeking Comments on Cultured Cell Meat Products

On September 2, 2021, FSIS announced an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to solicit comments and information regarding the labeling of meat and poultry products made using cultured cells derived from animals under FSIS jurisdiction. 

FSIS will use these comments to inform future regulatory requirements for the labeling of such food products.

In 2019 USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a formal agreement to jointly oversee the production of human food products made using animal cell culture technology to ensure that such products brought to market are safe, unadulterated and truthfully labeled. 

Under the agreement, FDA will oversee cell collection, growth, and differentiation of cells. 

FDA will transfer oversight at the cell harvest stage to FSIS. 

FSIS will then oversee the cell harvest, processing, packaging, and labeling of products. FDA and FSIS also agreed to develop joint principles for the labeling of products made using cell culture technology under their respective labeling jurisdictions. 

Seafood, other than Siluriformes fish, falls under FDA’s jurisdiction, whereas meat, including Siluriformes fish, and poultry are under FSIS’ jurisdiction.

FSIS has received numerous comments on the topic in response to a 2018 joint public meeting with FDA and regarding two petitions for rulemaking (from the United States Cattlemen's Association and Harvard Law School Animal Law and Policy Clinic). 

The Agency now seeks additional comments on specific topics that will inform rulemaking related to statutory and regulatory requirements for the labeling of these meat and poultry products. 

Topics include consumer expectations about the labeling of these products, especially considering the nutritional composition and organoleptic qualities (taste, color, odor, or texture) of the products; names for these products that would be neither false nor misleading; economic data; and any consumer research related to labeling nomenclature for products made using animal cell culture technology. Should any labels be submitted before the Agency completes its rulemaking, FSIS acknowledges in the ANPR how they would be generally evaluated.

Other than labeling regulations for this product, FSIS does not intend to issue any new food safety regulations for the cell-cultured food products under its jurisdiction. Current FSIS regulations requiring sanitation and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems are immediately applicable and sufficient to ensure the safety of products cultured from the cells of livestock and poultry.

There is a 60-day period for comment on the ANPR. 

To view the ANPR and information on how to comment or submit information, please visit the

FSIS website.

References

GOOD MEAT

Tissue Cultured Bio-Proteins

Cultured Meat