Cultivated meat regulation is advancing globally, but not at the same pace everywhere.
While some countries have approved products for human consumption, others are establishing safety review frameworks for a category that did not exist a decade ago.
The current moment reflects a shift from speculation to formal oversight, as regulators apply established food safety standards to an evolving technology, according to Suzi Gerber, executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS)
Global cultivated meat regulation is progressing unevenly
Gerber described the global regulatory landscape as active and evolving, with countries that traditionally lead on food safety conducting their own independent reviews.
“It’s an interesting time as the standard countries that usually lead the way in food safety are doing their independent safety review processes,” she said. “The US and Singapore, no surprise there, usually lead the way.”
She said Australia and New Zealand have completed safety reviews comparable in rigor to the US, while Israel has its own safety assessment process for cultivated meat intended for human consumption.
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Which countries are furthest along on cultivated meat approvals?
The US and Singapore remain the most advanced markets in terms of cultivated meat approvals.
Singapore became the first country to approve cultivated meat for human consumption and has since authorized three products: Good Meat (chicken), Vow (quail) and Parima (chicken).
In the US, five cultivated meat products – including Upside Foods (chicken), Good Meat (chicken), Wildtype (salmon), Mission Barns (pork fat) and Believer Meats (pork and poultry) – have received regulatory clearance following a joint FDA and USDA review process. While Believer received approval, the company shuttered in December 2025.
Gerber emphasized that regulatory approval does not automatically translate into retail availability.
“What we’re seeing right now is just the early stages of an industry, where companies are testing different market entry strategies,” she added.
Why the UK is taking a different regulatory approach
Gerber pointed to the UK as one of the most distinctive regulatory environments globally. UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), which governs food safety, entered the cultivated meat space last year with the development of a sandbox program for cell-cultivated products (CCP).
The sandbox program aims to develop “broader goals for safety, scalability and feasibility,” for UK consumers, Gerber said.
The UK has already approved cultivated meat for pet food from the brand Meatly, distinguishing it from other countries, and is now developing a separate regulatory pathway for human food applications.
The UK’s approach is notably “different from the US, which has a very rigorous, very lengthy FDA process and then a parallel USDA process, but no pet food approvals, yet,” Gerber noted.
How Europe fits into the cultivated meat regulatory picture
In the European Union, cultivated meat falls under the novel food framework overseen by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Gerber said the EU is progressing through its established system, even if approvals have not yet been granted.
The EU is “moving forward through the very established EFSA system,” she said. “Once these major regulatory bodies go through their own review, validation and approval processes, then we can start talking about regulatory harmonization.”
Japan and Asia Pacific markets to watch
Japan also is further along than it may appear publicly, said Gerber
“Japan has done quite a bit of very robust safety analysis and review, with a lot of commentary from global leaders in the space,” she said. “They’re extremely tech-accepting, but also famously rigorous when it comes to safety.”
She added that while timelines may appear slower, they reflect caution rather than resistance.
“We’re likely to see Japan move forward once they’re comfortable with the parameters they want to prioritize,” Gerber said.
Why countries are moving at different speeds
According to Gerber, regulatory differences are less about politics and more about precision.
“I genuinely think this is a getting-it-right-the-first-time situation,” she said. “We want the public to feel confident that what they’re eating is not just safe, but held to the highest safety standard of any food on the market.”
She said regulators are being asked to evaluate technologies they have not previously encountered in a food context.
As processes become more familiar, she expects approvals to accelerate.
“That’s what we saw in 2025 in the US, where three products were approved,” she said. “Now there’s a procedure in place. Everybody knows what’s expected.”
Why regulatory approval does not mean immediate retail launch
Despite approvals, cultivated meat remains largely absent from grocery stores.
Gerber said this reflects scale, cost and strategy rather than regulatory barriers.
“Most companies are launching through limited restaurant testing,” she said. “Some of it has to do with scale, and some of it is just prudent market testing, figuring out willingness to pay in real-world settings.”
She added that B2B and blended product strategies may reach scale faster than standalone cultivated meat products.
“When you plug into existing manufacturing pipelines or blend cultivated with plant-based or conventional products, you’re likely to see a different kind of market entry,” Gerber said.
Companies are looking into plant-based materials to offset some of the more costly aspects of cellular agriculture production.
For example, startup Deco Labs aims to solve the one of the costly elements of cultivated meat – growth media – by developing a food-grade, plant-based albumin alternative to dramatically reduce costs. Albumin is an essential protein found in animal blood and critical in creating serum-free growth media, which is less expensive than fetal bovine serum (FBS).
Deco Labs’ albumin isolates a functional protein from the more readily available canola meal – a byproduct of canola oil production.
Another startup, TrueMeat, is targeting cost efficiency through plant-based materials (in this case, soy) to create scaffolding for its whole cut meats. Animal cells are incorporated later for flavor and biological likeness, according to the company.
What comes next for cultivated meat regulation
Looking ahead, Gerber expects regulatory systems to become more efficient and eventually more aligned internationally.
“Historically, we’ve seen reciprocity develop once countries are comfortable managing technologies domestically,” she said. “I would expect that to happen here too, eventually.”
However, she stressed that regulation alone is not enough.
“We need more resources and prioritization at a higher level,” Gerber said. “Historically, the US invested enormous amounts into building agricultural infrastructure. That’s what it will take to scale these technologies.”
She contrasted this with countries like the UK and China, which she said are investing heavily in cultivated and alternative protein infrastructure as part of long-term food security strategies.
As cultivated meat continues to move from regulatory novelty to regulated reality, Gerber said the next phase will be defined not just by approvals, but by how governments support the ecosystems needed to bring these products to market at scale.
