Buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content, a novel food?
CJEU from 25.05.2023, RS C-141/22 – Buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content, a novel food?
The CJEU recently received a request for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 3(2)(a)(iv) and (vii) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. The referring court wanted to know whether a foodstuff such as buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content constitutes a "novel food" within the meaning of that provision, even though it was not used for human consumption to any significant extent in the Union before May 15, 1997. The ECJ stated that all foods that were not used for human consumption to a significant extent in the Union before May 15, 1997, are in principle novel foods within the meaning of this provision if they "consist of, or have been isolated or produced from, plants or parts of plants". However, the situation is different if two cumulative conditions are met:
1. The food in question must have "a history of use as a safe food in the Union".
The CJEU ruled in this case that it was not apparent that the product in question and its safety had been established by data on its composition and by experience of its continued use over at least 25 years as part of the normal diet of a significant number of people in at least one EU country.
2. It must be a food "consisting of, isolated from or produced from a plant or a variety of the same plant species obtained by means of
- conventional propagation methods used for food production in the Union before May 15, 1997, or
- non-traditional propagation techniques not used for food production in the Union before 15 May 1997, provided that these techniques do not significantly alter the composition or structure of the food in a way that affects its nutritional value, its metabolism or its content of undesirable substances".
However, the CJEU also denied the existence of this second condition. According to the Court, the use of an aqueous spermidine solution for the cultivation of buckwheat seedlings does not constitute a process for the propagation of the plant within the meaning of the exception.
In summary, buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content, which was not used for human consumption to any significant extent in the Union before 15 May 1997, must be classified as a novel food within the meaning of the provision to be interpreted.