Ad-hoc meeting with Member States and Observers Countries on the draft Novel Foods Guidance

Background

As part of the process to update the Guidance on the preparation and submission of an application for authorisation of a novel food in the context of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, EFSA hosted a meeting on 4 March 2024 with approximately 60 experts from Member States, Observer Countries and the European Commission.

During the meeting, EFSA presented lessons learned from the assessment of novel foods and how they have informed the update of the guidance document, also providing an overview of the main elements of novelty introduced by the update. Fruitful exchanges took place with participants regarding comments on the guidance document, covering topics such as the allergenicity of novel foods and the assessment of cell culture-derived foods.

Furthermore, the meeting served as an opportunity to pre-announce partnership grants to be launched by EFSA in the area of novel foods, and to promote further engagement opportunities related to the novel foods guidance update, including the public consultation on the draft updated guidance and the associated webinar.