Many MindedEU food safety body clears Solein, a protein made from air and power
The European Food Safety Authority has issued a positive scientific opinion on Solein, the gas-fermented protein from Finland's Solar Foods. EFSA's Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens found no safety or genotoxicity concerns under the proposed conditions of use. The European Commission must now draft an implementing act adding Solein to the EU novel food catalogue. Approval would allow sale in every member state without separate national authorisations. Solar Foods estimates that step will take seven to nine months, based on recent timelines. That is the company's estimate, not an official Commission schedule.
Solein is a powder made by feeding microbes carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen. It is about 78% protein, 6% fat and 10% dietary fibre. Solar Foods says it emits about 1% of the greenhouse gases of meat and 20% of those of plant proteins. Solein is already cleared for sale in Singapore and the US. Another gas-fermentation product, The Protein Brewery's Fermotein, received a positive EFSA opinion last December and was approved in June, which gives a recent precedent.
The significance is that this protein needs no farmland. Its inputs are gases and electricity, so supply is tied to power and plant capacity, not to harvests or land. If that scales, protein gets less dependent on agriculture. Factory 01 in Vantaa is set to reach 230 tonnes of capacity this year. Factory 02 in Lappeenranta is expected to start in 2028 with 12,800 tonnes a year. Business Finland has provided $89.1M in financing for its implementation phase.
Watch the Commission's act and the Factory 02 investment decision. That decision is not yet made and depends on a complete funding package and binding customer agreements. A supply deal with Italy's KelpEat covers up to €500,000 for 27 tonnes through the first half of 2028. Fazer plans European launches next year. The company's market projections of €7B in Europe by 2030 and €11B in the US are forecasts, not outcomes.
Source: Green Queen