On October 8, 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released food safety foresight technical meeting report of plant-based, fermented, and 3D printed foods. The Report covers plant-based, fermented, and 3D-printed foods, including an assessment of the market share and growth of these foods, typical production steps, environmental factors, nutritional profile, current perceptions of the meaning of food safety, regulatory frameworks, future directions, and consumer perceptions of novel food sources and production systems.

The Report recognizes Novel Food Sources and Production Systems (NFPS) as a rapidly evolving, innovation-rich field covering a range of foods from plant-based foods to products produced using innovative technologies, such as cell-based food production, finely fermented foods, etc., with the aim of providing information on novel food sources and production systems, and on novel foods, in order to protect the health of consumers, to implement fair trade rules, and to monitor, Assess the opportunities and challenges facing the agri-food system, especially food safety.

Note: A plant-based food is a product that is developed by replacing animal protein with plant protein as the primary means of combining a number of food and biotechnology technologies. For example, plant-based meat, plant-based seafood, plant-based milk and so on. Compared with traditional food, especially meat, plant-based food has the advantages of high protein, zero cholesterol, low fat, high dietary fiber, etc., so that consumers can balance the taste and health, in addition, the industry believes that the production and processing of plant-based food is more environmentally friendly than animal protein food.

For more information, see: https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/b76e8755-e4f0-4b51-b880-4e58e26f4880