EFSA’s Scientific Colloquium 27 “Cell culture-derived foods and food ingredients”

Background

Recent advances in fields such as tissue engineering, cell culture and synthetic biology have paved the way for new technological approaches and products in the agri-food sector. Among these, cell culture-derived foods of animal or plant origin and food ingredients produced through precision fermentation stand out.

In the EU system, these kinds of products require pre-market authorisation under different sectoral regulatory frameworks involving EFSA’s scientific advice, such as the novel food and the food additives regulations. Therefore, it is essential that EFSA’s risk assessment methodologies and expertise in the field keep abreast of these technological developments.

With this Scientific Colloquium, we would like to bring together relevant experts and stakeholders to discuss ongoing trends and research on the topic, and the requirements for keeping EFSA’s risk assessment fit-for-purpose.

Objectives of the event

The Colloquium aims to: 

• Identify sectors in the agri-food system relevant to cell culture-derived foods and food ingredients;
• Review the state of the art of relevant concepts, technologies, and derived products;
• Discuss emerging safety and methodological aspects and their impact on EFSA’s risk assessment approaches.

The Colloquium will build on ongoing discussions between EFSA and our stakeholders, including during a dedicated session of the “Future food and feed lab: Stakeholder workshop on new food and feed sources and technologies” taking place on 7-8 March 2023.

Who should attend?

The event is intended for all stakeholders interested or involved in the risk assessment of cell culture-derived foods and food ingredients.

In-person participation is limited to a maximum of 100 participants, including speakers and other experts already identified by EFSA. A further selection will ensure a sufficient representation of the various fields of expertise, as well as representation of all stakeholder groups and geographical balance.

To give all interested stakeholders the opportunity to follow the discussions live, the plenary sessions will also be web streamed.

Online registration

Registrations are closed.

The registered applicants will be informed about their participation mid-April.

Logistic information

The meeting is taking place in Brussels, Belgium on 11-12 May (1.5 days). Once confirmed, participants selected to attend in-person will receive further details.

The plenary sessions will be web streamed. The link to watch the web streaming will be made available nearer the event.

The event will be in English. No translation will be provided.

Participation in the event is free of charge. Unless invited by EFSA, participants are required to cover their travel and accommodation costs.

Contact

Do not hesitate to contact engage [at] efsa.europa.eu for information about the programme, or scientific.colloquia [at] efsa.europa.eu for organisational information.