Safety assessment of novel foods

Since 1997, the manufacturers of novel foods have been required to submit a complete safety dossier before they are allowed to launch these products onto the market. This pre-market safety assessment is an expression of the principle precautionary, a major cornerstone of European food safety policy.

The everyday practice of safety assessments shows that there are three types of novel foods. Firstly there are exotic novel foods which are already being consumed elsewhere in the world, then there are foods that are derived from a genetically modified source, and finally there are foods (also referred to as functional foods) which include specific bio-active ingredients.

Committee

• Prof. Dr LM Schoonhoven, Emeritus Professor of Entomology; Wageningen University and Research Centre, chairman
• Prof. Dr CAFM Bruijnzeel-Koomen, Professor of Dermatology/Allergology; University Medical Centre Utrecht
• Dr MMC Gielkens (and Dr B Loos), COGEM-VROM (Committee on Genetic Modification-Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment), consultant
• EJ Kok, toxicologist; RIKILT (Institute of Food Safety), Wageningen
• Dr CF van Kreijl, molecular biologist; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• Prof. P van der Laan, mathematician, physicist, statistician, Technical University of Eindhoven
• Dr F Nagengast, gastroenterologist; Nijmegen University Hospital
• Dr JMA van Raaij, food physiologist; Wageningen University and Research Centre
• Prof. G Schaafsma, Professor of Nutrition; TNO Nutrition and Food Research, Zeist
• Dr EG Schouten, Professor of Epidemiology, Wageningen University and Research Centre
• Dr GJA Speijers, toxicologist; National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven
• Prof. Dr WJ Stiekema, Professor of Bioinformatics, Wageningen University and Research Centre
• R Top, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport; The Hague, advisor
• Prof. Dr WM de Vos, Professor of Microbiology; Wageningen University and Research Centre
• Dr RA Woutersen, toxicologist; TNO nutrition and Food Research, Zeist
• Dr JAG van de Wiel, Health Council, The Hague, Senior scientific staff member
• Dr M Rutgers, Health Council, The Hague, Senior scientific staff member
• Dr CMA van Rossum, Health Council, The Hague, Senior scientific staff member