Development of a Safety-Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) framework for streamlined safety assessment of cultivated meat and seafood products

Cultivated meat and seafood, produced through cell culture technology, offers an alternative to conventional meat production. This industry employs novel food technologies that rely on culture media substances for cell growth. Assessing the safety of these components poses challenges due to the lack of frameworks for determining if a production component is ‘food safe’. This paper presents collaborative efforts to develop a safety assessment framework for media components, including a preliminary list of those commonly used in cultivated meat and seafood production, their categorization, and safety-assessed use levels. The framework was informed by and prioritised with cultivated meat industry stakeholder input, and with input from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). A framework for categorizing media ingredients by safety is proposed, outlining a process to broaden the types of components assessed. The output includes a Safety-Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) list of 56 media components, with proposed SAMI use levels. The goal is for the SAMI framework to be a resource for developing a harmonised international approach to safety assessments of media components in cultivated meat production. An internationally recognized methodology could clarify when a media component is considered ‘food safe’. The SAMI framework assists risk assessors in government, academia, and industry, providing a resource adaptable across jurisdictions. While the proposed levels facilitate the screening of safe culture media ingredient levels, they are not intended as strict limits. Future efforts will refine the assessment methodology to expand the SAMI list to include more complex components in cultivated meat and seafood. • Fifty-six commonly used cultivated meat culture media substances were evaluated. • Conservative safe-use levels were established for each component. • A structured framework facilitates regulatory review of media components. • A Safety-Assessed Media Ingredient (SAMI) list streamlines safety assessment. • Collaboration enables relevant, streamlined, and efficient safety evaluation.