Loophole Blues

The latest food policy move from the Trump government? Robert Kennedy Jr’s self-affirmed GRAS attack. The outspoken HHS secretary says it’s time to close the loophole that allows companies to self-affirm the safety of new ingredients without mandatory FDA review due to concerns over food safety, transparency, and public health. RFK argues that the current system creates potential conflicts of interest and undermines consumer trust in food safety.

Proponents of the current GRAS system argue that companies already have strong incentives to ensure their products are safe, as they face legal liability and reputational risks if their products cause harm.

If this so-called loophole does get closed, it would have a host of unwelcome consequences for the future food sector. RFK’s move could potentially:

• Delay timelines for innovative food technologies by requiring novel food ingredient makers to jump through extra regulatory steps (more costs, more resources).

• Spook already-spooked investors into not deploying capital into food tech startups that require FDA GRAS oversight.

• Make novel food testing costs so onerous that only larger, well-funded companies can afford to innovate, forcing small companies to exit the sector.

• Jeopardize the US’s tech-powered innovation ecosystem by making it a less attractive and competitive place for future food startups to be based.

• Limit consumer choice as fewer novel food technologies would come to market.

On the other hand, this could be good news for the UK and Singapore, which are well-positioned to welcome novel food startups with more open regulatory frameworks.

Food has always been political but lately, it feels more political than ever.

-Sonalie

💡 Green Queen Exclusives

🇨🇳 Interview: Mirte Gosker On Why China Is Betting On Alt Proteins In Its Annual Political Summit
China’s annual Two Sessions summit is underway, and two documents released in the lead-up indicate drummed-up government support for alternative proteins. We spoke to Mirte Gosker, managing director of GFI APAC, to break down what the new documents mean for the alternative protein sector in China and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

🇮🇩 Deep Dive: The Indonesian Startup Scandal That Rocked Southeast Asia’s Food Tech Sector
The alleged financial fraud committed by eFishery, one of Indonesia’s most promising startups, will likely have a ripple effect on Southeast Asia’s food tech economy.

💰 5 Minutes With A Future Food VC: Solvable Syndicate’s Daniel Skavén Ruben
In our new interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders. Here, Daniel Skavén Ruben, Founding Partner at Solvable Syndicate, shares his most successful future food investments and the things most people get wrong about VC.

❓IWD 2025: Why Are Female Founders Still Ignored By VC Investors?
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, one big question lingers for food tech: why do female leaders continue to get sidelined by investors?

💰 Funding News

🇫🇮 Finnish gas fermentation firm Solar Foods received €10 million from Business Finland to help build Factory 02, which would produce 12,000 tons of Solein protein annually.
💡The funds will also support R&D projects for its Solein protein, advance regulatory applications in various markets, and speed up its path to market.

🇺🇸 US startup GoodSam Foods raised $9 million Series A funding to expand its range of healthy snacks.
💡Its farmer-centric,‘direct trade’ model is designed to support champion smallholders and regenerative farming and cut out the middleman.

🇨🇭 Swiss food tech startup Food Brewer is targeting US regulatory approval for its cell-based chocolate this year, having just raised $5.6 million.
💡Food Brewer attracted investment from two of Europe’s largest confectionery companies, Lindt and Puratos - are they looking for solutions as cocoa prices reach record highs?

📈 Global agrifood tech investment reached $16 billion in 2024, a mere 4% drop from 2023, according to a new report by AgFunder.
💡While that is a seven-year low, many investors believe the market is bottoming out, and increased investment in markets like the US and India “hint at better days to come”.

🏦 Colorado-based Meati Foods faces an uncertain future after the firm’s lender swept away two-thirds of its cash reserves as a result of a technical default, despite assuring Meati that it wouldn’t.
💡Meati is “actively pursuing multiple funding opportunities”, but, if unsuccessful, will have to lay off its 150 employees in May.

✅ Regulatory News

🇬🇧 The UK’s Food Standards Agency has launched a regulatory ‘sandbox’ to accelerate the regulatory approval pathway for cultivated meat, with eight startups participating in the two-year programme.
💡Over the last year, the UK government has made concerted efforts to put the nation at the front of the protein transition race, having been stuck in the pre-Brexit novel food regulations, which are slow and expensive for companies.

🥳 Californian startup Mission Barns has become the third cultivated meat firm to receive regulatory approval in the US, after securing a ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA on Friday.
💡Mission Barns is planning to roll out its cultivated pork fat, mixed with plant-based ingredients in Italian-style meatballs and applewood-smoked bacon, at Sprouts and Bay Area restaurant group Fiorella.

🚫 US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has directed the country’s food regulator to close a ‘loophole’ that allows companies to self-affirm their ingredients as safe. 
💡The move could have major repercussions for producers of novel food ingredients who have used this pathway to commercialise, making the US a much less attractive proposition.

⛔️ House and Senate representatives in Mississippi have unanimously passed a bill to ban the sale of cultivated meat in the state, which is now on its way to the governor’s desk.

🧫 Everything Else In Future Food

🍕 New Culture, which makes mozzarella from precision-fermented casein, has secured signed interest worth over $5 million from pizza restaurants across the US ahead of its launch.

🇫🇮 Finland’s S Group witnessed heightened sales of vegan food across its retail stores in January, aiding its long-term plant-based sales goal amid a wider government push to eat less meat. Here’s why.

🌱 British vegan meal kit startup Grubby has bought the recipe IP of ready-meal brand Allplants, aiming to relaunch the latter’s products as an extension to its existing range.

📊 Replacing less than a tablespoon of butter with plant-based oils can lower the risk of premature death from cancer and other causes by a significant percentage, according to a new study by researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Mass General Brigham, and the Broad Institute.

🇮🇱 Meat and dairy should only account for a maximum of 40% of Israel’s protein supply by 2050 to ensure food security amid the climate crisis, according to a new study by the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research.

🌱🍔  Future Food Quick Bites 

In our weekly column, Future Food Quick Bites, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Diageo’s newest non-dairy Baileys, Beyond Meat’s mycelium steak, and Minor Figures’ ‘Hyper’ oat milk.

📆 Scene & Heard

Unlocking Capital for Sustainability 2025 - Hong Kong

🇭🇰 Don’t miss Unlocking Capital for Sustainability 2025 – Hong Kong on 27th-28th March. The two-day event will discuss pressing sustainable finance developments in the region, and will cover a number of important trends, including technology and AI, circularity, sustainable investing, and nature finance, all under the theme “Mobilising capital for the green transition.” Get your ticket here, and use our code EBUCFSHK50 for 50% off.

💡 The Good Food Institute has created The Alternative Protein Career Pathways tool, an interactive web tool featuring career maps and job archetypes for the plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived protein sectors, along with upskilling and hands-on training opportunities to help innovators around the world obtain jobs in the alt protein sector. Whether you are new to the field or looking to transition your career, these resources will help you navigate your path toward contributing to the future of sustainable food. Explore the tool here.

🌏 Grow Asia Innovation Challenge 2025 just launched, to advance digital AgTech solutions for climate-resilient agriculture in the Philippines. Following the success of last year’s challenge focused on rice, this year’s edition will support coconut, cacao, and coffee farmers by identifying and scaling market-ready digital solutions. Learn more and apply here.

🏆 Ahead of this year's HackSummit, FoodHack, Givaudan and Nestlé Research & Development Lausanne have launched a global tournament to uncover the most impactful AgriFoodTech startups - the FoodTech World Cup. Green Queen’s Sonalie Figueiras will be on the Jury and joining the Demo Day for APAC, along with Ai Mey Chuah at Givaudan, Michal Klar at Better Bite Ventures, and Mar Serra at Nestlé Research & Development. Enter your startup today!

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