Lab-grown foie gras, edible bugs, and 3D-printed chocolate set to steer meals revolution
Revolutionary food innovations could reportedly transform traditional British dining within 15 years, according to a new Food Standards Agency report on future food technologies
Lab-grown foie gras could soon be hitting our plates(Image: Bloomberg via Getty)
Lab-produced foie gras, edible insects and 3D-printed chocolate are among the food advancements expected to hit the UK market within the next 15 years, according to experts. A new report by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) outlines the pioneering food technologies most likely to revolutionise UK meals by 2035 and the measures they will take to ensure their safety.
Among the technologies that could soon grace British tables are foods cultivated from animal and plant cells in a lab, such as steak, chicken and duck foie gras, with two products already undergoing risk assessment by regulators.
Edible insects can be marketed as whole insects or used as ingredients like powders added to familiar foods, with four species already available in the UK for food or animal feed, under temporary provisions whilst they undergo safety evaluations.
The FSA said that allergenic proteins in crustaceans can also be found in edible insects, which means individuals with a shellfish allergy could have a similar reaction to consuming bug products, making it one of the factors that needs to be considered as part of safety assessments. Another food innovation that is already present and becoming increasingly mainstream is “vertical farming”, cultivating plants such as lettuce in highly-regulated indoor environments, with nutrients delivered precisely, to yield crops all year round.
Looking further ahead, the UK could witness technologies that use plants as miniature factories to manufacture specific food ingredients, and “gas fermentation”, which uses microbes to transform captured carbon dioxide into single-cell proteins for use in food. The report also examines “largely conceptual innovations” such as 3D-printed foods.
That would enable manufacturers to construct foods like chocolate or mashed potato by layering edible ingredients from a printer, although these are not anticipated to enter a wide market within the next five to 10 years.
However, such technology could assist in creating personalised foods, for instance, for individuals who struggle with swallowing due to medical conditions, the experts suggested.
Dr Thomas Vincent, deputy director of innovation at the FSA, said: “The food system is always evolving, and as a regulator, we need to keep pace with that and keep pace with the industry so that we can help ensure that new products are safe.”
He emphasised the need to guarantee that new production methods meet food safety and hygiene standards, and that allergies are taken into account during safety assessments.
With growing anxiety about the long-term health consequences of ultra-processed foods that are already widely eaten, Dr Vincent explained safety evaluations examined not just what the products contain, but also how they are manufactured.
He said: “What we do is a really thorough, holistic safety assessment that looks at things like allergenicity, but also at toxicology, at microbial contamination of foods.
“It looks at acute risks, so things that might happen once you eat food, but also at chronic risks, so there’s longer term potential risks, and that includes things like carcinogens, for example.”
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