Food definitions are an emerging policy topic. The dairy industry doesn’t like the term soymilk, and the rice industry is concerned about the marketing of cauliflower rice. Those issues are minor, though, compared with the question of whether lab-cultured proteins can be called meat or beef. Indeed, the matter of cultured meat is so complex because it raises issues that go beyond definitions such as the next generation debate over livestock cloning and which agency should regulate the product. Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a hearing on the topic of cultured meat, also referred to as “clean” meat since the ultimate product is not derived directly from harvesting livestock and thus avoids slaughter...

TAGS – Asia, China, Europe, North America