A company has asked the FSA’s advisers on novel foods to consider an application for Chia seeds to be approved for use in the European Union (EU) under the simplified approval procedure, and a consultation has taken place. Chia seeds, which can be used in bread products, breakfast cereal, fruit, nut and seed mixes, are grown in particular regions of South America and Australia, but have not been consumed to a significant degree in Europe. The European Novel Foods Regulation includes a simplified approval procedure for when a company believes its novel food is substantially equivalent to a food that is already on the market. In such a situation, the applicant can submit a notification to the European Commission after obtaining an opinion on equivalence from an EU member state – in this case the UK.
Published Wednesday 1 October 2014
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