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Nutrition industry 'positive' on prospects for new novel foods regulation

The intention of the reformed rules are to streamline and speed up the application process. The biggest problem with the old system was time – with an average of three and a half years needed to gain approval – and in some cases lasting up to five or six years.

 

You can read the full article HERE

 

Food Labelling Services comments:

New kinds of food come to our tables all the time. Increasing globalisation, growing ethnic diversity and the search for new sources of nutrients are the key drivers.

The notion of “novel food” is not new. Throughout history new types of food, food ingredients or ways of producing food have found their way to Europe from all corners of the globe. Bananas, tomatoes, pasta, tropical fruit, maize, rice, a wide range of spices – all originally came to Europe as novel foods. Among the recent arrivals are chia seeds, algae-based foods, baobab fruit and physalis (Peruvian groundcherry or Cape gooseberries).

Under EU regulations, any food that was not consumed “significantly” prior to May 1997 is considered to be a novel food. The category covers new foods, food from new sources, new substances used in food as well as new ways and technologies for producing food. Examples include oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids from krill as a new source of food, phytosterols or plant sterols as a new substance or nanotechnology as a new way of producing food.

On 10 November 2016, EFSA published two guidance documents on novel food and on traditional food following the new regulation on Novel Foods (REGULATION (EU) 2015/2283  of 25 November 2015 on novel foods, amending Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011). The regulation, which was adopted in November 2015, comes into effect in January 2018, introducing a centralised authorisation and assessment procedure.

The new definitions are as follows:
Novel food refers to food that European citizens have not consumed to a significant degree prior to May 1997. It includes food from new sources (e.g. oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids from krill), food obtained through the application of new technologies (e.g. nanotechnology) or by using new substances (e.g. phytosterols or plant sterols). 

Traditional food is a subset of novel food. The term relates to food traditionally consumed in countries outside the EU. It includes foods made from plants, microorganisms, fungi, algae and animals (e.g. chia seeds, baobab fruit, insects, water chestnuts).

EU risk managers decide whether new foods can enter the European market. In some cases, they may see the need for these foods to undergo a scientific risk assessment by EFSA to ensure consumer safety.