Saving Seafood

What to Call Seafood Made from Fish Cells

August 10, 2021 — Food companies, regulators, marketers, journalists and others should use the terms “cell-based” or “cell-cultured” when labeling and talking about seafood products made from the cells of fish or shellfish, according to a new Rutgers study in the Journal of Food Science.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture require food products to have a “common or usual name” on their labels, so consumers can make informed choices.

With more than 70 companies around the world developing cell-cultured protein products and more than $360 million invested in their development in 2020 alone, the adoption of one common name is crucial as products move closer to commercialization.

The study by William Hallman, a professor who chairs the Department of Human Ecology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, confirmed the results from his earlier study comparing seven potential names for these products.

Read the full story at Rutgers Today

National Fisheries Institute and cell-based seafood makers ask FDA for labeling guidelines

March 10, 2021 — The Alliance for Meat Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), a coalition representing makers of cell-cultured protein products, and the US seafood trade association the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) jointly called on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support requirements for labeling these new products descriptively, accurately and consistently regarding what the products actually are and how they are made.

Based on research by Rutgers professor William Hallman, NFI and AMPS Innovation on Monday urged the FDA to adopt the use of the term “cell-cultured” to support uniform labeling of the products.

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA are working together to ensure the safety and labeling of cell-cultured meat, poultry, and seafood products.

FSIS will have oversight of the labeling of cell-cultured meat and poultry, as it does for all meat and poultry sold in the United States, while FDA will oversee the labeling of cell-cultured seafood, as it does for most seafood sold in the United States.

Read the full story at IntraFish