Since expanding the rules in 2018, the EU has received more applications for novel foods such as seaweed and dried mealworms than in the previous 14 years combined, according to POLITICO.
Since the new EU rules came into force in January 2018, the European Food Safety Authority has received more than 156 innovative food applications, covering substances such as apple cell cultures and mung bean protein. The regulation is designed to make it easier for companies to bring their unique products to market. Officials said that of the 156 applications, 114 were still pending, 39 had been approved and three had been rejected.
By comparison, only 90 applications were processed between EFSA’s creation in 2003 and the end of 2017, when it took over centralised risk assessment of novel foods. The data shows that since 2018, the European Food Safety Authority has received an average of 52 new food applications per year, compared with just 6.4 applications per year between 2003 and 2017.
“The only explanation I can give for the significant increase in the number of applications submitted to the Commission and forwarded to EFSA is that food system operators welcome the new regulation,” said Wolfgang Gelbmann, Senior Scientist at EFSA’s Nutrition Division.
The European Food Safety Authority said the most popular new foods in the last two years were plants, microorganisms, fungi, algae and modified molecular structures. Other notable products include mushroom powders and dried “miracle berries” fortified with vitamin D2. The West African fruit can sweeten sour foods like lemons and limes after consumption, according to its manufacturer.
Christophe Derian, secretary general of the International Platform for Insects in Food and Feed (IPIFF), said the new regulatory process was “simpler and more harmonized” than before, paving the way for even more unusual products to hit store shelves in the future.
For example, he said a decision expected next month on dried mealworms could pave the way for EU-wide approval of other insect products, such as cricket burgers. The European Food Safety Authority is expected to rule that dried mealworms can be used in bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits and pasta, but that still requires final approval from the European Commission and EU member states.
The approval process is lengthy: by the time dried mealworms receive final approval, likely in the coming months, more than three years will have passed since the application was submitted. But Dreen remained optimistic, saying final approval “will show that this new legislation is actually somewhat successful.”
Since 2018, EFSA has rejected three products, one of which was a viable embryonated egg of whipworm, a parasite found in pigs, due to reports that it can survive for some time in the human intestine.
Most applications for registration of new food products come from European companies, but EFSA also reviews applications from North American and Asian companies, particularly for herbal substances used in alternative medicine.
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Post time: May-08-2025