Edible insects, vertical farming and cell-cultivated foods have been highlighted as some of the key food technologies most likely to reach the public within the next 15 years.
In the Thematic Report on Emerging Food Innovations from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, the agencies identified the technologies most likely to generate food and safety regulatory needs in Great Britain over the coming decade.
The agencies said the report provided the “clearest picture to date of how cutting-edge food production systems are evolving” and what this means for regulation.
By setting out the regulatory implications in advance, the report enables companies to plan long-term research, manufacturing and investment strategies with greater certainty, the agencies added.
Some of the technologies called out are already in commercial use in the UK such as controlled environment agriculture, or vertical farming, and to a lesser extent cell-cultivated food and edible insects.
Emerging technologies such as molecular farming – which uses plants or plant cells as “tiny factories” to make specific ingredients – remain at an early stage, while reverse food manufacturing, which takes nutrients out of food byproducts and turns them into new ingredients, and 3D food printing are conceptual and are a longer-term watchlist area.
It also called out precision and biomass fermentation, which exploits rapid microbial growth to produce protein rich biomass for food, and gas fermentation, which uses microbes to convert captured industrial gases into single cell proteins.
Read more: Why recalls keep occurring and which category is the worst offender
“Emerging technologies are reshaping how our food is produced and sourced,” said Dr Thomas Vincent, deputy director of innovation at the FSA. “This report gives industry and government clear sight of what is coming, and what is required to ensure these products meet the UK’s high standards.
“The FSA and FSS’s remit is central to delivering these ambitions and by working early with innovators, we can support safe, responsible growth and build consumer confidence in the foods of the future.”
The report is designed to provide a strategic blueprint for where scientific capability guidance development and risk assessment approaches will need to evolve to keep pace with innovation.
It was informed by evidence collected from focus groups and surveys to ensure that the regulatory planning reflects the questions and concerns that matter most to the public.
The Emerging Food Innovations in the UK report has been produced by the Market Authorisation Innovation Research Programme, a programme jointly delivered by the FSA and FSS and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology.
The programme complements the Cell-Cultivated Products Regulatory Sandbox, launched in March 2025, which gives innovators early engagement with regulators before formal applications for cell-cultivated products are submitted.
No comments yet