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Food Safety

Union list of novel foods

About the Union list

The Implementing Regulation establishing the list of novel foods compiles all the authorised novel foods in the European Union to date. It includes their conditions of use, labelling requirements, and their specifications. All authorisations are generic and the Union list serves as a reference for economic operators who wish to place in the market an authorised novel food unless data protection is requested by the applicant. The Union list is updated by the Commission to add newly authorised novel foods.

Under the old Regulation (EC) No 258/97 on novel foods, 228 applications have been submitted to the EU countries pursuant to Article 4 and more than 400 notifications pursuant to Article 5 of that Regulation. As a result of this legal commitment, the initial Union list contains 125 entries.

Updates to the Union list of novel foods

Updates - 2025

  • Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/89 of 20 January 2025 authorising the placing on the market of UV-treated powder of whole Tenebrio molitor larvae (yellow mealworm) as a novel food and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 (Text with EEA relevance).