Novel Food
What is a Novel Food?
A Novel Food is defined as a food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before 15 May 1997, when the first Regulation on Novel Food came into force. Novel just means new.
Novel Foods and G&G
G&G (or anyone) is not permitted to use any ingredients that are considered unapproved Novel Foods in supplements that we create. You can find the Novel Food Catalogue from the European Commission here.
Companies can apply to EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in the EU or to FSA (Food Standards Agency) in the UK (now we have left the EU) for Novel Food approval.
The core application procedure involves a systematic, multi-step workflow designed to evaluate safety and risk:
- Pre-Submission: Before officially applying, businesses should verify whether their product actually requires novel food status. Applicants can use national or EU databases to review existing classifications.
- Dossier Preparation: Applicants must gather extensive scientific and technical evidence. This includes detailed manufacturing processes, compositional analysis, toxicological studies, and nutritional data.
- Submission: The technical dossier is submitted through an online regulated products application portal.
- Safety Assessment: Independent scientific experts and government agencies (such as the FSA in the UK or EFSA in the EU) review the evidence to ensure the food is safe, nutritionally sound, and clearly labeled.
- Authorisation: Once the risk assessment is complete and risk management options are finalized, government ministers or the European Commission make the final decision to authorize the food and add it to the approved market list.
The full procedure can take up to five years or more to complete. Often the approval is for that specific product from that specific company. As they spent all the time and money on the dossier they usually get exclusivity, sometimes for a specific time period.
Take a look through the list below that we have compiled ourselves, or search a particular ingredient in the search bar.
Known Novel Foods