Solar Foods’ Solein Clears EFSA Safety Review, Putting Gas-Fermented Protein on Track for EU Approval in 2027
The European Food Safety Authority found Solar Foods' microbial protein safe under its proposed conditions of use. The Finnish company expects full EU authorization in seven to nine months.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that Solein, a protein made by Finnish company Solar Foods using gas fermentation, is safe under its proposed conditions of use, vegconomist and Green Queen reported on Nov. 9 and 10. Solar Foods now expects full European Union authorization in seven to nine months.
TLDR
- EFSA’s Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens issued the positive opinion on Solein.
- Solar Foods says it is the first positive EFSA opinion for a novel food made by gas fermentation.
- Sales in the EU still need a European Commission implementing act and a vote by member states.
- In the U.S., Solein has been self-affirmed GRAS (generally recognized as safe) since 2024, and Solar Foods has filed a GRAS notice with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
What EFSA Found
The panel found Solein safe under the proposed conditions of use, with no safety or genotoxicity concerns, Green Queen reported. The opinion covers use as a protein ingredient in selected food categories, according to Protein Production Technology. The dossier covers a powdered biomass of a bacterium, Xanthobacter sp. SoF1, vegconomist reported, and the panel adopted the opinion on Aug. 31, 2026, according to EFSA meeting minutes cited by vegconomist.
Solar Foods submitted its application to the European Commission on Oct. 29, 2021.
What Solein Is
Solein is a deep-yellow powder. It is made by feeding microbes carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen instead of sugar, Green Queen reported. The powder is 78% protein, 6% fat and 10% dietary fiber, according to the report.
The Road to EU Shelves
The European Commission will now draft an implementing act, and a committee of member-state representatives will vote on it. Once adopted, Solein can be sold across the EU under the approved conditions without separate national approvals, vegconomist reported. The new timeline runs past Solar Foods’ earlier target of 2026.
Solar Foods based its estimate on Fermotein, a fungal protein from The Protein Brewery, which received a positive EFSA opinion in December 2025 and later won EU authorization. Finnish food company Fazer, Solar Foods’ largest shareholder, says it is ready to launch Solein products for consumers once final approval is granted.
Solar Foods runs a demonstration plant, Factory 01, in Vantaa, Finland. A larger plant, Factory 02 in Lappeenranta, is expected to begin operations in 2028 and produce 12,800 tonnes a year, Green Queen reported. The final investment decision on Factory 02 depends on binding customer contracts and a completed financing package, vegconomist reported.
Why It Matters
Singapore approved Solein in 2022, vegconomist reported. In the U.S., it is an ingredient in Ambrosia Collective protein powders, according to Green Queen. Final authorization would let Solein be sold in every EU member state under a single approval. In the U.S., Solein is sold under a self-affirmed GRAS conclusion. FDA has proposed a rule that would require companies to notify the agency of such conclusions, according to Arnold & Porter. Comments on that proposed rule close Dec. 9, 2026.
Sources: vegconomist (Nov. 9, 2026); Green Queen (Anay Mridul, Nov. 10, 2026); Protein Production Technology (Nov. 9, 2026); Arnold & Porter on FDA’s proposed GRAS rule.