Fundamental regulations concerning novel food products and food for special medical purposes with plant ingredients

Abstract

Summary A lot of products from food category specified in Regulation No. 609/2013 may contain herbal substances or their preparations. Definitions of food for infants and toddlers, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control are now clearly regulated by UE food legislation. The concept and definition of foodstuffs for particular nutritional published in Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 6 May 2009 do not apply. On 22 February 2019, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/128 complementary to Regulation (EU) No. 609/2013, regarding specific compositional and information requirements for food of special medical purposes was applied. Novel foods and novel food ingredients are foods which have not been used for human consumption in UE to a significant degree before 15 May 1997.

Food supplements in Poland in context of issues related to their safety as food

“…The continuous increase in sales of products from the socalled borderland in the country, as well as in other EU countries and a fairly large number of manufacturers requires continuous verification of the current standards. That is why, not only in Polish legislation, but in all EU countries, detailed EU regulations regarding borderline herbs and their safe amounts are urgently needed [3,20,21]. Recently, the Italian Ministry of Health recommended that all botanicals be subjected to tests similar to medicinal products.…”