Biotechnologies and Food: Citizens’ Health and Science Must Come First

Reversing earlier positions that sought primarily to accelerate the authorisation procedures for biotech foods—particularly lab-grown and precision-fermented products—MEPs have now agreed on key principles: that the EU’s high standards for food safety and consumer protection must be upheld; that impacts on sustainability and circularity must be assessed; and that food innovation must take into account social, ethical, economic, environmental and cultural aspects.

We also welcome the European Parliament’s alignment with the position we have long advocated, and which was clearly reiterated by the EU AGRIFISH Council in January 2024: to protect citizens’ health, any such biotechnological applications must undergo proper scrutiny before being authorised or placed on the EU market. This includes the requirement for clinical and pre-clinical studies.

This position is fully in line with the letter we sent months ago to the European Commission, where we questioned whether the current “Novel Foods” Regulation is fit for purpose. We called for consideration of future revisions that would better align the safety evaluation of lab-grown foods with that of medicines—specifically by including pre-clinical and clinical studies as key safety criteria. We also urged the Commission to ensure proper alignment with GMO legislation and to address the ethical implications of these technologies.