Alternative protein companies can now hold public tastings of cultivated meat, precision-fermented proteins and other novel foods in Abu Dhabi before those foods are fully approved for sale in the UAE, Green Queen reports.
The guidelines were drawn up by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (ADQCC), the Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), with food tech startups, universities, experts and regulators, and were unveiled at the PALT 2026 conference during Global Food Week UAE.
Tastings and sensory studies must take place in controlled research settings. The framework sets requirements for safety assessment, laboratory testing, regulatory oversight and the protection of participants. The ADQCC's Central Testing Laboratory will verify products, and ADAFSA will review each trial application and issue the approvals. The aim is to close the gap between early product development and market entry, so companies can gather data on how consumers of many nationalities respond.
"The future of food will be determined not by innovation alone, but by our ability to turn scientific discoveries into solutions that are safe, reliable and commercially viable," said Abdulla Al Yazeedi, acting secretary-general of the ADQCC. ADAFSA's acting director-general, Tariq Ahmed Al Ameri, said the scheme keeps consumer safety at the heart of food technology development.
The move comes a year after the same agencies began work on a framework to clear the sale of alternative proteins and cut approval times by six to nine months. ADIO has also explored a four-million-litre precision fermentation facility with Vivici and The Every Company. Abu Dhabi says its AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (AGWA) cluster, set up in 2024, is to add Dhs 90 billion ($24.5 billion) to GDP and 60,000 jobs by 2045.
Source: Green Queen
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