Mosa Meat, the Dutch startup pioneering the production of cultivated meat, has announced that it has filed its first novel food authorisation request for the European market. The company has submitted a dossier to the European Commission seeking approval of its cultivated beef fat, marking the first request of its kind in the European Union.
This choice was shaped by the European regulatory framework, which assesses each new ingredient individually. Cultivated fat is essential for delivering the flavour, aroma and texture typical of high-quality beef, and therefore represents a natural first step in introducing cultivated meat to consumers.
This move follows the earlier initiative of the French startup Gourmey, which in July 2024 had submitted a similar request for its cultivated duck foie gras. Gourmey aims to offer a sustainable alternative to traditional foie gras, a product often criticised for the force-feeding practices it involves.
To meet Europe’s stringent food safety standards, Mosa Meat prepared a dossier of nearly 1,000 pages, including the analysis of 450 samples and the review of 652 analytical documents. Compiling the dossier required the collaboration of six accredited laboratories, the development of 23 new analytical methods and the analysis of 148 parameters for each batch. More than 10 Mosa Meat employees worked full-time on this project for almost two years, spending seven consecutive days just to upload all the documents to the European Commission’s portal. This effort reflects the importance of thorough preparation in order to successfully navigate Europe’s complex authorisation process,
The authorisation process for novel foods in the European Union is known for its rigour. Once an application is submitted, the European Commission carries out a validity check of the dossier. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) then conducts an in-depth risk assessment, which can take up to nine months. During this period, EFSA may request further information, thereby extending the assessment timeline. Once the assessment is complete, the Commission has seven months to consult the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed and adopt a final decision on the authorisation of the novel food.
Mosa Meat has raised over 120 million euros from leading investors, including Sergey Brin, Chris Sacca and Leonardo DiCaprio. In addition, the company has secured funding from government bodies in the Netherlands and from the European Commission itself, as cultivated meat is seen as a potential tool for achieving the Union’s environmental policies.
