Meat innovation may be boosted by novel foods law, experts say
Novel foods are used as meat processing oils (for example from genetically modified canola or oilseed rape seed), and as additional ingredients and additives, so the regulation should lead to more processed meat products.
“The revision of the novel food regulation is an important element to stimulate innovation in the food industry,” EU food body FoodDrinkEurope communications director Florence Ranson told GlobalMeatNews.
“The regulation includes important amendments as compared to the legislation from 1997, such as the centralised authorisation procedure, simplification and speeding up the authorisation process and data protection provisions,” Ms Ranson emphasised. She argued these developments would protect the interests of companies producing new products.
Cloned meat coming soon?
The EU food industry association also welcomed the inclusion within this food law of a legal definition of nanomaterials: materials engineered at the scale of atoms and molecules (100 nanometres/nm - 0.000000001 metres – or less). Under the law, the use of nanomaterials within a food product triggers controls required to assess the safety of a ‘novel food’.
In addition, meat manufacturers are closely watching these regulatory developments in case they can be used to control the development of cloned meat – which also might come on the menu in future.
In the UK, where cloned meat hit the headlines in 2010, a British meat industry association official (who requested anonymity) said the regulation was one to watch: “We keep an eye on legislation like this, and if and when any such product might ever be considered for the marketplace, we will work with the regulatory authorities to ensure all requirements are met,” she told GlobalMeatNews. However, she said currently no cloned meat products are planned for the market.
The novel foods regulation, revising rules nearly 20 years old, has been welcomed by EU health and food safety commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis as “an agreement about innovation, new technologies and simplification”.
“Under the new system, the company will be given the authorisation to market the food for five years, provided it creates innovation that is supported by new scientific data,” Mr Andriukaitis said.
Between 1997 and 2014, there were around 170 applications to authorise novel foods within the EU, about seven to 10 per year, according to the European Commission. In November 2015, some 90 novel foods were already authorised for use across the EU.
Information on novel food applications is available here.
