Food science technology has experienced a tremendous growth over the last few years. There has been wide acceptance of the Impossible Burger, while cell-cultured chicken was approved for sale in Singapore in 2020, the first nation to authorize a cultured meat. Many other cultured meat and seafood companies are working to get cell-based products approved to sell in 2021. With this growth comes questions from consumers regarding the technology and safety of the products. Haven Baker, co-founder and chief business officer of Pairwise predicts that new gene-edited produce could make up 14% of consumer purchases within a decade. Because of this, Jonathan McIntyre, CEO of Motif FoodWorks, believes the time has come to provide more information to consumers regarding what food science companies are working on and why their products are important. Vireo is aligned with this vision to provide transparency in how these foods are produced and what the ingredients that go into the products are. Further, communicating the benefits these products can bring will ultimately enhance consumer confidence and acceptance.

Photo: New Age Meats, “stacked sausages”