Japan’s Draft Cultivated Food Guideline: Key Points from the 24 Dec 2025 Meeting
What Happened on 24 December 2025
On 24 December 2025, Japan’s Food Sanitation Standards Council held the Newly Developed Foods Investigation Subcommittee meeting (the “Expert Committee”). At the meeting, the Consumer Affairs Agency (“CAA”) shared part of a draft guideline for cultivated foods.
The CAA acts as the secretariat for this Expert Committee through its Food Safety Standards and Evaluation Division (Office of Health Policy on Newly Developed Food).
Meeting Materials (Unofficial English Translation)
Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (“JACA”) translated part of the CAA meeting materials into English. You can access them via the link below.
Please note: the materials span multiple pages and materials, and the link includes only part of the full set.
These translations are unofficial. They may contain errors or missing information.
The “Guideline” May Look Like an Information Request List
During the meeting, the CAA secretariat explained some background about a table item titled “Information to be submitted by the business operator (draft)” (from p.8). The secretariat suggested that this section contains key elements of the Expert Committee’s main deliverable.
The CAA has called the deliverable a “Guideline.” However, the secretariat also noted an important nuance. In practice, the content may resemble an information request list, as indicated in the table, rather than a detailed, prescriptive guideline. Readers often expect different levels of detail when they hear the word “guideline,” so this distinction matters.
Overall, the document aims to support a market launch process for cultivated foods.
How the Government May Review Submissions
The meeting materials also include “Confirmation points (draft).” These points describe how the government may review the information submitted by business operators.
The vice chair of the Expert Committee stressed a key point. The confirmation points are not mandatory requirements at this stage. They do not function as “must” or “should” obligations. Instead, they serve as items that may warrant review. Whether any points become mandatory will depend on future discussion.
Note on Official Records
This blog post is based on the meeting’s livestream video and audio. The CAA website states that the livestream is not the official record of the meeting. The CAA will publish the official minutes on its website later.
Reference: https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/council/fssc/meeting_materials/review_meeting_004/044501.html
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