Netherlands first in the EU to allow pre-approval tastings of lab-grown food

Cultivated meat and seafood can soon be taste-tested in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government, in collaboration with Mosa Meat, Meatable and sector representative HollandBIO, have developed a ‘code of practice’ that would allow tastings possible in controlled environments.

This deal makes the Netherlands the first nation in the EU to allow pre-approved tastings of food created directly from animal cells even before an EU new food approval. 

The agreement comes after the ‘National Growth Fund’ of the government pledged €60M to create a strong ecosystem for cellular agriculture, making the Netherlands a centre for developing the technology.

The ‘code of practice’

The code of practice was created after an intervention by the Dutch House of Representatives in 2022. Cellular Agriculture Netherlands, the company established to carry out the National Growth Fund strategy, will be in charge of putting the code of practice. 

Members, Tjeerd de Groot (D66) and Peter Valstar (VVD) introduced a resolution asking the government to speak with Dutch cellular agriculture producers so that pre-approval tastings might be conducted in a controlled environment.

This will include selecting a group of professionals to assess requests from businesses to perform tastings of cultivated meat and seafood.

14 of the 17 political parties that cast votes approved the proposal, including VVD, BBB, CDA, D66, Christen Unie, PvdA, GroenLinks, PvdD, SP, and others.

Krijn de Nood, CEO at Meatable, says, “This is great news for the Netherlands. We know cultivated meat can significantly help reduce climate impact. By enabling the tasting of cultivated meat, The Netherlands maintains its pioneering role in Europe and beyond.”

“For Meatable, this means that we can allow consumers to taste and experience our products, and make our products even better with their feedback. Our goal is to make tasty cultivated meat that is indistinguishable from traditional meat available to everyone, without harming people, animals or our planet.”

“This development brings that goal closer. We thank the ministries for their constructive collaboration and look forward to invite the first people to try our sausages, dumplings, and pulled pork!” adds de Nood.

Maarten Bosch, Mosa Meat’s CEO, says, “This is a great achievement for the Dutch government and another proof point that the Netherlands is a global leader in agriculture and food innovation.”

“We thank all 123 members of the Tweede Kamer who voted in favour of finding a way to make this possible and Minister Kuipers, Minister Adema and their teams for being professional and collaborative in getting it done.”

“Mosa Meat will use these controlled tastings to gather invaluable feedback on our products and to educate key stakeholders about the role cellular agriculture can play in helping Europe meet our food sovereignty and sustainability goals,” adds Bosch.

If you have experience in food assessment or product creation, you can register your interest in participating in a tasting session here.

Brief about Mosa Meat and Meatable

Founded in 2016 by Mark Post and Peter Verstrate, and currently led by CEO Maarten Bosch, Mosa Meat is a food technology company that claims to have found a new way to make real meat for people in a sustainable, healthy, and animal-friendly way.

The company introduced the world’s first cultivated beef hamburger by growing it directly from cow cells in 2013.

Meatable was founded in 2018 by Krijn de Nood, Daan Luining, and Dr Mark Kotter. The company’s technology helps cultivate pork and beef. Its aim is to deliver “at scale, the new natural, cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat”.