The Age Of Innovation In Food: Is Our Regulatory System Ready?

Deepti A. Kulkarni

The United States is at the epicenter of a revolution in food innovation and food culture. Innovators are finding new ways to produce food more efficiently and with fewer impacts on our environment, using emerging and advanced technologies such as genome editing, synthetic biology, and animal cell culture technology. Consumer interests and expectations continue to rapidly evolve, and many consumers are looking for healthier, more sustainable, and diverse alternatives. At the same time, the world’s population is growing exponentially and is estimated to reach over nine billion people in the next thirty years—meaning, we will have to produce more food, more efficiently, and with a much smaller footprint.