SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eat Just, Inc., a company that applies cutting-edge science and technology to create healthier, more sustainable foods, announced today that the key ingredient in its popular plant-based JUST Egg products has received approval from the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) expert panel on nutrition. This paves the way for the initial launch of JUST Egg to occur in Europe in mid-2022 after the European Commission concludes its review.
By participating in the European Union’s novel food process and passing the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens safety assessment, Eat Just’s mung bean protein has become the first novel legume protein to be deemed safe under the regime that has governed all new food ingredients entering the European markets since May 1997. The scientific opinion by the EFSA panel was published in the EFSA Journal today.
“Bringing JUST Egg to Europe, and to millions of consumers who are choosing a healthier, more sustainable approach to eating, will be one of the most important milestones for our company. I appreciate the hard work of our team and, most importantly, the thoughtfulness and rigor of the EFSA panel that led to this historic safety approval,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
Eat Just successfully collaborated with analyze & realize GmbH, a leading regulatory consulting agency specialized in natural health products, on the novel food dossier compilation and EFSA submission. The company is also actively engaging with the UK’s Food Standards Agency on a regulatory path to market.
Today’s announcement continues the momentum for JUST Egg’s global expansion. Recent launches in South Africa and South Korea have added to the brand’s growing international presence, which also includes Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
Studies have shown European consumers are increasingly hungry for plant-based products and the egg category is one of the biggest areas of opportunity. Nielsen data shows European retail sales of plant-based foods reached €3.6 billion in 2020 – 28 percent higher than 2019 and 49 percent higher than 2018. A 2020 report by ProVeg International said stand-alone egg alternatives like JUST Egg represent a major market opportunity due to versatility, breadth of function and frequency of consumption.
Government programs such as the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy, first published in May 2020, have also advocated for a healthier and more environmentally sustainable food system. Industry groups like the European Alliance for Plant-Based Foods have called upon the Commission, the European Parliament and member states in the Council of the EU to enable the plant-based food sector to grow and contribute to tackling climate change, public health and other issues.
About Eat Just, Inc.
Eat Just is a food technology company with a mission to build a healthier, safer and more sustainable food system in our lifetimes. The company's expertise, from functionalizing plant proteins to culturing animal cells, is powered by a world-class team of scientists and chefs spanning more than a dozen research disciplines. Eat Just created America’s fastest-growing egg brand, which is made entirely of plants, and the world’s first-to-market meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock. The company has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies,” Entrepreneur’s “100 Brilliant Companies,” CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” and a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. JUST Egg has been named among Popular Science’s “100 Greatest Innovations” and Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas” and the history-making debut of GOOD Meat was heralded as one of 2020's top scientific breakthroughs by The Guardian, Vox and WIRED.
For more information on JUST Egg, visit https://ju.st.
For more information on GOOD Meat, visit http://goodmeat.co.