Articles
Lycopene as innovative food ingredient according to EU Novel Food Regulation
Article number
1445_21
Pages
147 – 154
Language
English
Abstract
Innovative trends in food product development revealed the necessity to implement a regulatory framework at the European level to stimulate trade in the internal market as well as innovation while optimizing risk assessment and guaranteeing safety for consumers.
Regulation (EC) No. 258/97 initially regulated the concept of novel food, to ensure that these foods were subjected to a single safety assessment through a Community procedure before being placed on the European Union market.
Subsequently, in 2018, Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 came into force, intending to streamline the conditions for economic operators to introduce new and innovative foods to the EU market, while still maintaining a high level of food safety.
The mentioned Regulations limited its scope of application to those foods or food ingredients that, until May 15, 1997 (date of entry into force of Regulation 258/97), had not been used in an important measure for human consumption in the European Community.
Primary conditions for the marketing of novel foods or food ingredients include that these should not pose any risk to the consumer; mislead the consumer; and differ from other foods and food ingredients they were intended to replace in such a way that their normal consumption would imply disadvantages for the consumer from the point of view of nutrition.
Up to date, four novel foods have been approved with relation to tomato and tomato products, their derivates or components: tomato lycopene oleoresin; tomato lycopene; lycopene from Blakeslea trispora and the synthetic lycopene.
The present work aims to review the authorisation process of these four novel lycopene types, their safety concerns and conditions of use in the European market as part of the novel food ingredients innovation process.
Regulation (EC) No. 258/97 initially regulated the concept of novel food, to ensure that these foods were subjected to a single safety assessment through a Community procedure before being placed on the European Union market.
Subsequently, in 2018, Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 came into force, intending to streamline the conditions for economic operators to introduce new and innovative foods to the EU market, while still maintaining a high level of food safety.
The mentioned Regulations limited its scope of application to those foods or food ingredients that, until May 15, 1997 (date of entry into force of Regulation 258/97), had not been used in an important measure for human consumption in the European Community.
Primary conditions for the marketing of novel foods or food ingredients include that these should not pose any risk to the consumer; mislead the consumer; and differ from other foods and food ingredients they were intended to replace in such a way that their normal consumption would imply disadvantages for the consumer from the point of view of nutrition.
Up to date, four novel foods have been approved with relation to tomato and tomato products, their derivates or components: tomato lycopene oleoresin; tomato lycopene; lycopene from Blakeslea trispora and the synthetic lycopene.
The present work aims to review the authorisation process of these four novel lycopene types, their safety concerns and conditions of use in the European market as part of the novel food ingredients innovation process.
Authors
M. Cámara, V. Fernández-Ruiz, R. López-Rodríguez, L. Domínguez, J. Vermetten
Keywords
novel foods, tomato oleoresin, tomato
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