The UK Government has allocated GBP 1.6 million (~USD 2.1 million) to create Europe's first regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat and seafood within the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

The sandbox aims to accelerate the authorization process for novel proteins while maintaining safety standards, boosting regulators' scientific knowledge, developing guidance, and providing pre-submission consultations to companies.

The sandbox is part of broader efforts to streamline the approval process for regulated products, including cultivated meat, with the FSA planning to implement reforms by 2025 to address current delays in authorizations.

Analyst QuickTake: This investment marks the UK's second investment in 2024, demonstrating the nation's support toward cultivated meat production. In February 2024 , the UK awarded a GBP 500,000 grant (~USD 633,450) to CPI, MarraBio, and Aelius Biotech for a cultivated meat project. The UK Government had also invested GBP 12 million (~USD 14.9 million) in April 2023 toward the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA) initiative that aimed to help British companies and scientists produce cultivated meat at scale.