The Government took a major step to commit a total of S$144 million to catalyse and facilitate more investments in the agri-food space, which included priority areas such as urban agriculture and alternative protein.

On the infrastructure front, the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) was also launched in April 2020 to bring together several national research institutes’ existing capabilities under one roof to facilitate research and development (R&D) collaborations for the development of novel food.

Beyond R&D, SIFBI will also support the enhancement of food safety to address the emerging risks that could be associated with novel food products including alternative protein, which will be increasingly crucial as these products slowly become mainstream.

A related area which institutes such as SIFBI and the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre — both under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research — can look into is the nutritional aspects of alternative protein. This is one area which can also help to boost public acceptance of new products. 

Read more: https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/alternative-proteins-boon-food-security-what-can-spore-do-end