Guidance on the preparation and presentation of an application for authorisation of a novel food in the context of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283

Following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council on novel foods, the European Commission requested EFSA to update and develop scientific and technical guidance for the preparation and presentation of applications for authorisation of novel foods. This guidance presents a common format for the organisation of the information to be presented in order to assist the applicant in preparing a well-structured application to demonstrate the safety of the novel food. The application should be comprehensive and complete. This guidance outlined the data needed for the safety assessments of novel foods. Requirements which should be covered in all applications relate to the description of the novel food, production process, compositional data, specification, proposed uses and use levels, and anticipated intake of the novel food. Further sections on the history of use of the novel food and/or its source, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, nutritional information, toxicological information and allergenicity should be considered by the applicant by default. If not covered in the application, this should be justified. The applicant should integrate the data presented in the different sections to provide their overall considerations on how the information supports the safety of the novel food under the proposed conditions of use. Where potential health hazards have been identified, they should be discussed in relation to the anticipated intakes of the novel food and the proposed target populations. On the basis of the information provided, EFSA will assess the safety of the novel food under the proposed conditions of use.