A1269 - Cultured Quail as a Novel Food

What’s changing?

• New standard for cell-cultured foods: A new standard (1.5.4) sets out labelling requirements, including the use of the term ‘cell-cultured’ or ‘cell-cultivated’.
• New food safety standard: A new standard (3.4.1) outlines food safety requirements for the production and processing of cell-cultured foods, including controls on inputs, equipment, premises and monitoring.
• New schedule for approved products: Schedule 25A has been introduced to list permitted cell-cultured foods, starting with cultured quail.
• Microbiological limits: Schedule 27 has been amended to include limits for Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in cell-cultured food products.
• Other Code amendments: Related updates ensure only approved cell-cultured foods may be sold or used as ingredients.

What’s not changing?

• Pre-market safety assessment: Cell-cultured foods must still be assessed and approved by FSANZ before they can be sold.

Why this matters:

• Public health and safety: Only cell-cultured foods that are assessed as safe can be sold.
• Clarity and consistency: Clear rules are now in place to guide future applications and provide certainty for industry, regulators and consumers.
• Global alignment: The new framework supports safe innovation and harmonisation of regulatory approaches being adopted in countries like Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom.
• Consumer choice: Foods must be labelled as either ‘cell-cultured’ or ‘cell-cultivated’ to help consumers make informed choices.