By Richard Horwell, owner of Brand Relations

It is my opinion that innovation and growth in the UK’s food and beverage sector is being held back by our Novel Foods legislation and a dinosaur in the form of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which regulates the use of novel foods in this country.  Let’s review at the issues that could be affecting your F&B business.

What makes an ingredient a Novel Foods?

This is food that hasn’t had a significant history of human consumption or has been produced by a previously unknown method in the EU before May 15, 1997 when the first regulations for novel foods came into force. We inherited the regulations from the EU and it was meant to protect consumers from using ingredients in food and drink that could potentially cause harm if its safety is not proven.

Recent trends for hemp, CBD and cannabinoids, baobab, chia seeds, Krill oil, noni-fruit juice and dried mushroom including Turkey Tails and Lion’s Mane mean there’s an insatiable demand for these perceived healthy plant-based foods. But currently, they’re all waiting (and waiting) for the green light from the FSA which requires that they have to be tested as safe, and properly labelled and cannot be legally sold until authorised. This might make sense if millions of people in the UK weren’t already consuming these products freely in the form of supplements.

When the UK left the EU we hoped that this nonsense would come to an end. But sadly, we are still in the hands of bureaucrats who are making a mockery of the situation.

Why add novel ingredients?

Convenience is part of it and since the pandemic there’s been a significant increase in demand for healthy food and plant-based products. Many people come through my door wanting to use natural health foods in their products. But I have to tell them it’s not allowed until they have gathered and submitted extensive evidence to the FSA which is a very expensive and lengthy process. For example, in March 2021 only 210 applications from several thousand products were considered viable for further consideration.

Of course, we should be cautious about what goes into our food. But I have known cases where producers have gone somewhere else with their idea and a more unethical company has agreed to take the product on with a disclaimer for responsibility. They will find a way, but it just pushes the problem down to the FSA.

In most cases these health products have already been tested. For example, Canada has approved more than 90 Novel Foods including canola, corn, cotton seed and flax. Our laws say everything new has to be tested but if it is already tested (elsewhere or in different products, say supplements) and it’s not making anyone sick, what’s the problem? We need to free ourselves from the bureaucrats.

Which Novel Foods are currently available on the market?
Chia seeds, when first introduced, were only allowed to be sold as single ingredients but due to the increase in dietary intake in recent years and an extensive literature search by the European Food Standards Agency the product is now widely added to chocolate, fruit spreads, yoghurts and non-alcoholic beverages.

Cholesterol reducing spreads have also been approved with the addition of phytosterols and phytostanols and are gathering huge commercial success. The appetite for CBD in food and drink is currently booming although consumers might be surprised to learn this hasn’t yet been approved by the FSA.  Major retailers Boots and Holland & Barrrett reported an increase of 65 % in revenue in November 2021 from CBD products and they are set to pull in £690 million in 2021 – an increase of £314 million since 2019. Big names like heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua are behind the CBD brand Love Hemp and many CBD companies have joined forces to push CBD on to the market. But nothing’s certain for them yet and this hugely successful product which has already gone through rigorous testing in other parts of the world could still have the rug pulled from underneath it.

What’s the cost of launching a Novel Food?

It’s huge. You can expect to spend at least five or six figures for the research and testing. What small business can afford that?  Currently we’re in a position where some products are on the market without approval because there’s financial clout behind them. For the time being some producers are getting away with it. We need a fairer and a streamlined system to support innovation in F&B.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Horwell is the owner of Brand Relations, a specialist food and drink marketing and branding company based in London. Over the last 13 years, Brand Relations has been behind the launch and development of over 100 brands in the UK. Richard has also built up and sold companies of his own in the Food and Beverage sector. He has over 30 years’ experience in marketing FMCG brands around the world, having lived and worked in the UK, USA, Australia and the Middle East.