The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a positive scientific opinion on Solein, a protein powder made by the Finnish company Solar Foods, finding it safe under the proposed conditions of use, Green Queen reports. It is the final step before the protein can be sold in the European Union.
Solein is grown without farmland. Solar Foods feeds microbes on carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen instead of sugar, grows them in liquid and dries them into a mild, deep-yellow powder of 78% complete protein, 6% fat and 10% dietary fibre, with a nutrient profile close to dried soy or algae. The process needs no irrigation water, fertiliser or pesticides, and the company says it emits 1% of the greenhouse gases of meat and 20% of those of plant proteins. EFSA's Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens found no safety or genotoxicity concerns.
The European Commission will now draft an implementing act to add Solein to the EU's novel food list, after which it can be sold across the bloc without separate approval in each member state. Solar Foods expects that to take seven to nine months, based on recent timelines: the Dutch startup The Protein Brewery won a positive EFSA opinion for its Fermotein protein last December and approval in June.
Production is still small. The demonstration plant, Factory 01 in Vantaa, is due to reach a capacity of 230 tonnes this year. Factory 02 in Lappeenranta, planned to start in 2028, would make 12,800 tonnes a year. Solar Foods has $89.1 million from Business Finland for that phase and says completing its funding and signing binding customer agreements are conditions for the final investment decision; it expects the EFSA opinion to speed up offtake talks.
"After years of proving the technology, product and production process, our focus is increasingly on commercial execution and scaling the business," chief executive Rami Jokela said. The company puts Solein's addressable market at EUR 7 billion in Europe by 2030. Fazer, the Finnish food group and an investor, launched a Solein snack bar in Singapore in 2024 and plans Solein products in Europe next year.
For farmers, Solein is one of a growing number of fermentation proteins that compete with crops and livestock for a place in processed foods; its makers present it as a complement to existing protein sources rather than a replacement.
Source: Green Queen
Comments
(0)