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Safer seafood could be on the way—cell-cultivated fish offers hope for seafood allergy sufferers

A recent study on cell-cultivated fish has produced promising results that could put seafood back on the menu for the three to five percent of the global population with severe food allergies.

JCU researchers at the College of Science and Engineering, in collaboration with JCU's Tropical Futures Institute in Singapore, have found that cell-based fish can lead to the production of safer seafood products with vastly diminished allergy risks, after analysis of cultivated Japanese eel (Unagi) showed positive signs.

Seafood is a leading trigger of food-induced anaphylaxis in many regions worldwide.

Research presented at the recent World Allergy Congress revealed that fish allergens in the cultivated Unagi were more than 10-fold lower compared to conventional eel.

Head of JCU's Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory (MARL), Professor Andreas L. Lopata, said the study is showing hugely promising results. The research began almost a decade ago working with children who had a clinical history of allergies to bony fish.

"We have a data bank of over 100 children with confirmed fish allergies, and we demonstrated that there is very little to no reactivity to the known fish allergens in the cell-cultivated fish," Prof Lopata said. "The levels of allergens present in the cell-cultivated fish being so low was quite surprising to us.

"You're basically taking stem cells from the fish, growing them in tissue culture to the size they are edible, and everyone told us it would basically be the same as the regular fish including any allergy risks.

"Instead, we found diminished risks, including a decrease of up to 1000-fold of the predominant fish allergen parvalbumin, and all of this was with no manipulation nor gene modification."

The JCU team is partnering with the not-for-profit organization Good Food Institute (GFI) and the Singapore-based company Umami Bioworks on the project and Prof Lopata expects the product could be available to consumers within the next few years.

"Cultivated chicken and quail products are already available in Singapore and the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) is expected to approve the first cultivated meat products soon," he said. "Worldwide you are looking at 10–12 billion US dollars in investments in the alternative protein production industry in recent years.

"The first products will most likely be cultivated fish and seafood dumplings. They should have that same fish flavor and omega-3 fatty acid levels, which are very healthy, along with all the other components of regular fish and seafood."

The process of having these products approved by the Singapore Food Agency has already begun, with an obvious focus on Food Safety.

"There can be uncertainties about allergenicity, but that's where we come in, as experts in the field, really analyzing all proteins (the proteome) and then comparing particular allergen patterns to see if there could be anything unsafe for consumers," Prof Lopata said.