Industry Urges Use of Manufacturers Data in EU Novel Food Catalog

BRUSSELS—The European Responsible Nutrition Alliance (ERNA) is pressuring the European Commission (EC) to include data from manufacturers when validating the list of substances in the soon-to-be published Novel Food catalog. Novel food status applies to food ingredients that have not been used to a significant degree in foodstuffs legally sold on the European Union market before May 1997. To date, stakeholders have not been allowed consultation on the document and, according to ERNA (www.ERNA.org), manufacturers possess data on a number of substances that contradicts information included in the list.

“We are not clear on how this catalogue has been established, how the information has been validated or what criteria have been used to include or exclude substances in this list,” said Patrick Coppens, ERNA Secretary General, commenting on plans to publish the catalogue, which has circulated within the EC for the past five years as an informal document. “The substances listed are not specified for their chemical composition, origin or part of plant, and many descriptions offer no clarity on how the decision was reached. It is bound to raise many more questions and problems for business than create clarity and improve understanding.”