Photo：Guenay Ulutuncok

What is “Novel Food”？

The NFR regulates the placing of “novel foods” in EU member states to protect public health by ensuring food safety. It calls for anyone wishing to place a food product on the EU market to first evaluate whether the food is “novel” and then to present evidence that it is safe. Novel foods are foods and food ingredients that have not been used for human consumption to a significant degree within the Community before 15 May 1997. What constitutes “a significant degree” is not specified and is subject to interpretation. Applicants may seek advice on these matters from commission officers or member states.

The regulation（258/97）principally addresses food safety concerns in the context of foods derived from，or containing，genetically modified organisms（GMOs），with “new molecular structure” or those derived from novel production processes. The categories established in the regulation do not expressly recognize or accommodate traditional foods from outside the EU，and yet according to article 1.2.[e] “food and food ingredients consisting of or isolated from plants and food ingredients isolated from animals” may be novel foods，except for those “obtained by traditional propagating or breeding practices，and having a history of safe use”. Thus，the regulation appears to exclude traditional foodstuffs，but the wording is unclear（How does one prove a history of safe use？）and contradicts current interpretations and practice under the NFR.