On March 17, 2026, the List of Approved Novel Foods was published, detailing the substances approved for import and sale in Singapore. A total of 14 types of novel foods have been listed.
For each approved novel food, the following information is provided:
a) SFA’s decision date;
b) Name of the novel food;
c) Identity of the production strain (e.g., animal cell line / plant / microorganism), if applicable;
d) Brief description of genetic modifications made to the production strain, if applicable;
e) Description of growth media and inputs used;
f) Brief description of the manufacturing process and risk management measures (e.g., based on Critical Control Points, CCP);
g) Specifications of the novel food.
"List of Approved Novel Foods"
- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (green) strain THN6 algae biomass
- Cultured chicken cells derived from UMNSAH/DF1 cells
- Mycelial biomass derived from Fusarium strain flavolapis
- Protein powder from Xanthobacter sp. SOF1
- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (red) strain TAI114 algae biomass
- Cultured chicken cells derived from UMNSAH/DF1 cells (produced using serum-free media)
- Mycoprotein from Neurospora crassa Bstr 26 produced by biomass fermentation
- "Fermotein", Rhizomucor pusillus fungal biomass
- Cultured Japanese quail fibroblast
- Urolithin A derived from chemical synthesis
- 3'-sialyllactose (3'-SL) sodium salt produced using precision fermentation of a genetically modified (GM) Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) JBT-3SL
- 6'-sialyllactose (6'-SL) sodium salt produced using precision fermentation of a genetically modified (GM) Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) JBT-6SL
- Mycelium biomass from Pleurotus pulmonarius
- Cultivated chicken biomass
To ensure a rigorous review of safety assessments, SFA established the “SFA Novel Food Safety Expert Working Group” to provide scientific advice. This expert working group comprises 13 experts with diverse expertise across relevant disciplines. The group is chaired by Professor John Lim. Professor Lim is the Executive Director of the Centre of Regulatory Excellence at Duke-NUS Medical School, Core Lead (Policy) at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute, Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Health (Singapore), and Chairman of the Consortium for Clinical Research & Innovation, Singapore.
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