The term novel food is used for foods that have not been consumed to a significant degree in the EU before May 15, 1997. According to the EU Novel Food Regulation 2015/2283 novel foods must be risk assessed and approved at EU level before they can be marketed in the EU.
Novel foods includes, for example, new sources of vitamins, agricultural products from third countries, food derived from new production processes or selective extracts. Examples of foods that have been novel food approved are chia seeds, noni fruit juice, rooster comb extract, synthetically produced vitamin K2, oil enriched with phytosterols and UV-treated mushrooms.