The food innovations set to reshape the UK

Future of UK food: summary

• UK regulators say that edible insects could grow as an alternative protein source within five years
• Precision fermentation, cultivated foods and biomass fermentation are also nearing wider adoption
• Vertical farming could strengthen UK food security and reduce reliance on imports
• Molecular farming and gas fermentation are expected to develop over the next five to 10 years

Edible insects, cultivated foods, molecular farming and gas fermentation are among the innovations identified as having the potential to bolster food production and improve resilience in a new report from the UK government.

With the UK food system facing environmental pressures, geopolitical disruptions and rising costs, technologies can play a role in providing additional food and ingredients.

In the Top Emerging UK Food Innovations report, The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has predicted which technologies could imminently transform the food system and which will take longer.

“It’s exciting to see the FSA/FSS list and implications for these technologies for the UK food system and food safety," says Christian Reynolds, reader in food policy at City St George’s, University of London. “These technologies can be solutions as part of a wider response to food system resilience and wider food supply.”

Here are the predictions...

Within 0-5 years

Precision fermentation

In this technology, microorganisms are programmed to produce certain ingredients and fed nutrients in fermentation tanks. The sugars they produce are converted into the desired ingredient by the microorganisms.

It builds on decades of safe use for enzymes and preservatives, according to the report, and now extends to animal-free dairy proteins and similar functional components.

However, challenges remain, including reducing costs while scaling capacity and achieving consistent batch-to-batch quality.

Biomass fermentation

Quorn has been sold in the UK for decades and is an example of this technology, which uses the growth of micro-organisms such as fungus to produce protein-rich biomass for use in food.

More innovative uses of biomass fermentation are emerging, including new fungal, bacterial and microalgal ingredients, says the report, and fermentation approaches can improve taste, texture or functionality in plant-based foods.

A novel mycoprotein has just been approved in the EU, so this sector is looking positive.

The remaining challenges for newer applications centre on scaling cost effectively.

Cellular agriculture

Cell-cultivated products (CCPs) are foods that are made by taking cells from plants or animals, which are then grown into food.

The report notes the challenges – namely, low market readiness due to consumer scepticism and issues around scalability, despite the industry reporting strong ethical and sustainability drivers.

However, it concludes that ‘this technology has the potential to change protein supply chains’.

To enable progress, the FSA and FSS have piloted a regulatory sandbox – a controlled testing environment that allows companies to trial innovative products or technologies under regulatory oversight before they are fully approved or brought to market – and published guidance for CCPs.

Controlled environment agriculture

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) grows crops such as leafy greens in climate-controlled indoor spaces and can produce food throughout the year. It includes vertical farming (growing crops in stacked layers).

One example that the report cites is that UK studies show strong yields and water savings for vertically farmed lettuce, compared with some field-grown imports. The carbon footprint can be higher because of energy use and speciality materials, but renewable energy could improve efficiency.

Some UK vertical farming businesses have struggled with high energy and operating costs, and several have already failed.

CEA may support winter food security and reduce reliance on volatile imports.

Edible insects

Edible insects can provide an alternative protein source in whole or processed forms, says the report.

It notes that while no edible insects have been authorised for sale in GB, measures introduced following the UK’s exit from the EU allow four insect species to remain on the GB market until the FSA and FSS make a decision on their authorisation​, including yellow mealworms and house crickets.

This means there is already UK market presence and active regulatory engagement, but future market presence will depend on authorisation outcomes and public perceptions.

Within 5-10 years

Molecular farming

Described by the report as farming that ‘uses plants or plant cells as tiny factories to make specific food ingredients, such as proteins and enzymes’.

UK research strengths in transient plant expression mean new ingredients can be prototyped quickly, says the report, and, if scaled successfully, molecular farming could broaden the UK’s ingredient options by providing a different route to producing high-value functional ingredients.

Its progress will be dictated by rules about whether an ingredient is novel and whether the plant used to produce it is classed as a genetically modified organism (GMO) or precision bred. Therefore, early classification is vital.

Gas fermentation

Gas fermentation uses microorganisms to convert gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen or methane into protein and other food ingredients, offering a potentially more sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture.

According to the report, research indicates that gas fermentation could support wider policy objectives, such as a circular economy and net zero, by providing a domestic, year-round source of protein that doesn’t rely on farmland or fishing.

Products will need to submit evidence under the novel foods framework.

Over 10 years

Emerging technologies should be monitored, says the report. These include:

3D printing

Specialist printers build edible products in layers, using ingredients such as plant-based proteins. It is likely to remain smaller scale, says the report, because it is expensive, and hard to keep consistently clean and reliable across recipes.

Reverse food manufacturing

A very much emerging technology that means taking nutrients out of food by-products and turning them into new ingredients. These technologies are largely at pilot or concept stage, says the report.

New-to-nature proteins

Another early-stage technology that makes proteins ‘using advanced computing or artificial intelligence to create new molecules that don’t exist in nature’. They could be used to improve food texture or nutrition. They would require novel foods approval.

The future of food

There is much to be hopeful for if these technologies progress as expected, helping countries like the UK become less reliant on seasonal imports and resilient against unpredictable climate events.

“Investment and development of these technologies in the UK is needed if we want to maintain UK food innovation and enable domestically produced food innovation to flourish,” says Reynolds.

Progress will also depend on how regulatory pathways develop to support responsible innovation and the public will need to be on board.

“I think there is a societal barrier to acceptance of some of these innovations,” says Reynolds, “as well as an issue on the scale of production ie how to increase these innovations to be economically viable at scale.”