Japan Seeking to Regulate Alternative Meat Market

Japan will use a public-private partnership to create and implement measures to regulate the country’s growing “alternative meat industry,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Aug. 17. The partnership will aim to establish standards for “insect-based and plant-based foods derived through innovative technologies.” They will develop standards for food safety, quality, international export, and proposed guidelines for labeling and product certification. The USDA said Japan planned to begin this summer a process of creating working groups to focus on the standards by product category, such as insects for feed or cultured meat.