The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that to feed the growing population that is projected (10 billion people on the planet by 2050), food production must increase by about 70%—a massive effort. Innovative solutions are needed to meet the growing global population’s demand for food and sustainability, and novel foods from alternative protein sources can be part of the solution.
But this shift towards more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food systems brings challenges of its own. Producers and regulators must ensure the safety of emerging novel food products from alternative sources through accurate and fit-for-purpose analysis to support innovation.
“Recently, there has been a significant focus on the introduction of novel foods from alternative protein sources, such as cell-, fermentation-, insect-, plant-, fungi-, or algae-based alternatives to traditional food ingredients and products,” says Kate Mastovska, AOAC deputy executive director and chief science officer. “This exciting, rapidly growing sector has brought new challenges in terms of new matrices and/or analytes that need to be tested to assess the quality and safety of these novel foods. In addition, it also challenges traditional analytical approaches, such as the analysis of protein content.”
However, she notes that, “These challenges present an opportunity to improve the current methodology and approaches for all food types, not just the novel ones.”
Defining novel foods is complicated, but one of the cleanest definitions comes from the European Union, which basically states that novel foods are products not available before 1997. In the United States, novel foods are foods or food ingredients that do not have a history of use.
Some global classifications/categories considered as novel foods are microorganism-based, plant or plant parts, animals or parts, cell or tissue culture derived from animals or plants, genetically modified organisms (GMO), new production processes, and/or modified chemical structure.
A key driver of this new and growing product area is the need to feed 10 billion people sustainably and safely with quality and nutrition. Development of novel foods is also driven by behavioral/dietary changes. The flexitarian trend is seeing up to 30% of consumers keen to transition to a diet with less or no meat. Economics is another factor driving the industry, with plant-based food in the United States a $7 billion market.
Safety, acceptability, quality, nutrition analysis, and the high cost of production are some of the most pressing challenges facing the industry.
Consumer perspectives on novel foods is critical to industry, and safety (testing for residues and contaminants) and acceptability (product taste, texture, cost, etc.) play a big role. Novel foods regulations ensure a high level of protection in food safety. Few standardized best practices or technical recommendations have been established. Harmonized standards and methods will boost consumers’ confidence in this new and growing product area.
In terms of acceptability, consumer perception of eating insects, for instance, can be a challenge but one that can change over time. Lobster, potatoes, and tomatoes are just some examples of commodities that were at one time undesirable.
One definition of “quality” states that if novel foods are intended to replace another food, it must not differ in a way that consumption of the novel food would be nutritionally disadvantageous to the customer.
“Research, development, and marketing of foods produced from new and alternative pathways are on the rise,” says Jay Alappat, Mérieux NutriSciences, and a champion of the new AOAC program on novel foods. “Proper labeling of ingredients and understanding of nutritional quality are critical in guiding consumer decisions. AOAC Official Methods of AnalysisSM are valuable to support label claims.”
Advances and innovations in cellular biology, fermentation methods, and food science generate new ways of producing food. The United States, European Union, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Asia Pacific (Singapore, Japan, India) are among the entities that have guidance for safety, definitions, procedures, scientific requirements, list of novel foods, foods from third countries requirements, etc.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have a specific program in place for novel foods and instead relies on existing frameworks to deal with ingredients produced in novel ways. Established frameworks for food additives and GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe), for example, may be applied to innovative ingredients (such as those derived from microbial fermentation and other novel protein sources) added to conventional food. New frameworks have been developed as science and technology evolve, such as cell culture consultation (CCC), but rely on established safety standards.
FDA combines long-standing authorities with policy and scientific knowledge to regulate food safety, an approach that is flexible and adaptable to a wide variety of new food production technologies. AOAC and other organizations can play a role in collaboration in research and innovation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to advancing research on novel foods from alternative proteins as a sustainable solution in support of its vision for the future of agriculture. Since 2021, USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics mission area has invested over $37 million in alternative protein research and development.
“Regulatory frameworks are critical to further advance the novel foods sector,” Alappat says. “However, the current regulatory frameworks lag behind consumer demand for novel foods.”
Novel food testing looks at safety (testing must be done for contaminants and residues, pathogens, etc.), quality and nutrition analysis, and acceptability. There is a need for standards, validated methods, proficiency testing, and reference materials, among other analytical solutions.
Gaining momentum and support since it was first introduced as an emerging topic during the Analytical Solutions Forum (ASF) at last year’s AOAC Midyear Meeting, the growing sector of novel foods from alternative protein sources is now a new AOAC integrated program. Stakeholders identified a need for standardized methods for evaluating quality, safety, and acceptability of novel foods—an innovative solution to feeding the growing global population. The first priority project will focus on standards development activities for determination of total amino acids in selected food products and ingredients.
With the program’s initial focus on amino acid analysis, Alappat notes that quality is one of the defining parameters for novel protein. Protein quality is “the power of protein source to cover the requirements of nitrogen and amino acids for the organism.” Protein is an essential nutrient and measuring its content is important, particularly for trade purposes.
Some common methods used to measure protein are Kjeldahl, Dumas, and colorimetric. However, there are limitations and no standard methods, reference materials, or proficiency testing samples for novel foods (fermentation-, plant-, insect-, and cell-based). Total amino acid analysis can directly assess protein content and can be used to evaluate digestibility of individual amino acids for protein quality.
AOAC Official MethodSM 2018.06 for amino acid analysis, which was validated in dairy, infant formula, and cereal matrices, shows potential for applicability to a wide variety of matrices with comparable method performance.
“This is a good opportunity for various stakeholders from regulatory agencies, manufacturers, analytical organizations, and consumer advocacy groups to come together to address challenges for the common goal of establishing harmonized standards for this emerging industry,” Alappat says.
AOAC INTERNATIONAL is about to launch a new integrated program on novel foods from alternative protein sources, which is already supported by several organizations, including food manufacturers, technology providers, and the contract testing sector. Complete an interest form to join the advisory panel or working group or to be included on future communications and meetings.
For more information, contact scienceprograms@aoac.org.
