APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum Publishes Peer-Reviewed Scientific Opinion on Animal Toxicological Studies for Cultivated Food Safety
SINGAPORE — 7 October 2026 — The APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture (APAC-SCA) is pleased to announce the publication of a new peer-reviewed scientific article, “Scientific Opinion on Animal Toxicological Studies for the Safety Assessment of Cultivated Food Products,” in Trends in Food Science & Technology, one of the leading international journals in food science and technology.
Developed through the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum, the paper provides a comprehensive scientific examination of whether conventional whole-food animal toxicological studies are appropriate or necessary for the safety assessment of cultivated food products.
The publication brings together expertise from toxicology, food safety, regulatory science, academia, industry and policy, and represents the latest contribution from the Forum towards strengthening the scientific and regulatory foundations for cultivated food across the Asia-Pacific region and globally.
A science-based approach to safety assessment
As cultivated food technologies continue to develop, regulators are considering how existing food safety frameworks can be appropriately applied to products manufactured through controlled cell-culture processes.
The paper critically evaluates the scientific rationale for routinely requiring in vivo toxicological studies, particularly whole-food repeated-dose animal feeding studies. It concludes that a tiered, weight-of-evidence approach, incorporating compositional analysis, exposure assessment, assessment of production inputs and residues, and validated New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), can provide a scientifically rigorous and proportionate basis for safety assessment.
Importantly, the authors do not conclude that animal studies should never be conducted. Rather, the paper proposes that in vivo studies should be considered where significant unresolved uncertainties remain and where other available evidence cannot adequately address a specific safety concern.
This approach is consistent with the broader evolution of food safety assessment towards methods that are risk-based, exposure-driven, scientifically justified and proportionate to the nature of the product being assessed.
Evidence from regulatory precedents and case studies
The review examines regulatory precedents from multiple jurisdictions, including Singapore, the United States, Australia/New Zealand and Israel, where cultivated food products have undergone regulatory assessment without a requirement for whole-food animal toxicological studies.
The authors also examine a 90-day repeated-dose oral toxicity study involving a cultivated food product. The analysis illustrates some of the challenges associated with interpreting whole-food animal studies, particularly where the test material is compositionally complex and observed effects cannot readily be attributed to a specific constituent or translated into meaningful human exposure limits.
The paper therefore highlights the value of directing toxicological assessment towards specific inputs, residues, contaminants or other identified hazards, where appropriate, rather than applying uniform animal-testing requirements to the whole cultivated food product.
Advancing regulatory dialogue across APAC
The publication is the latest scientific output of the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum, which was established in 2023 by APAC-SCA in collaboration with the Good Food Institute APAC.
The Forum provides a platform for continuous and systematic dialogue among companies, industry associations, think tanks, scientific experts, governmental agencies and food safety regulators across the Asia-Pacific region. Its work focuses on identifying regulatory questions of shared importance and developing scientifically grounded approaches that can support greater regulatory clarity and consistency.
The Forum has previously produced publications addressing cell line development and cell culture media components, with this latest scientific opinion extending the Forum's work into the area of toxicological assessment.
“The publication of this peer-reviewed work represents an important milestone for the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum. Our objective is not to advocate for less rigorous food safety standards, but to support regulatory approaches that are rigorous, scientifically justified and proportionate to the actual risks presented by a product. As cultivated food regulation develops globally, constructive dialogue between regulators, scientists and industry will be increasingly important.”
Peter Yu, Program Director — APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture
The publication is intended to contribute to ongoing international discussions on the future of food safety assessment and the appropriate use of animal and non-animal methodologies in regulatory science.
APAC-SCA welcomes continued engagement from regulators, scientists, industry stakeholders and other interested parties on how science-based approaches can support robust consumer protection while enabling regulatory systems to evolve alongside advances in food technology.
About the APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum
The APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum was established in 2023 by the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture and the Good Food Institute APAC as a formal mechanism for continuous and systematic cross-border dialogue on cultivated food regulation.
The Forum brings together stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region to discuss regulatory and scientific issues relevant to the safety assessment, authorisation and development of cultivated food products.
About APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture
The APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture (APAC-SCA) is a Singapore-based regional organisation focused on advancing the cellular agriculture ecosystem across the Asia-Pacific region. APAC-SCA works with industry, regulators, policymakers, academia and other stakeholders to support ecosystem development, science-based regulation, informed public dialogue and regional collaboration.
Read the full article: Scientific Opinion on Animal Toxicological Studies for the Safety Assessment of