Novel foods learning platform overview
- New Foods RegLab enables novel food companies to share learnings
- The initiative aims to improve future EFSA pre-submission guidance
- EU novel foods were excluded from proposed regulatory sandboxes
- Long authorisation timelines may deter investment in novel foods
- RegLab will not have regulator participation or eased regulations
A ‘regulatory sandbox’, or learning platform, is being launched for novel foods in the EU. New Foods RegLab, a platform by the Ministry of Future Affairs, a European think tank, will give companies developing novel foods the opportunity to share their learnings.
The EU, in the first part of its Biotech Act proposed last year, explicitly excluded novel foods from its proposed regulatory sandboxes. This, it said, was due to the fact they could “trigger ethical or cultural concerns among various consumer segments”.
New Foods Reglab aims to provide an alternative.
What the platform involves
New Foods RegLab will involve up to 10 companies who are considering applying for novel food approval in the EU, acting as a platform for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge.
The platform aims to help companies learn through collaboration. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has pledged to provide more pre-submission guidance for novel food applicants. Nevertheless, in this case, “what you learn stays with you”, says Anna Handschuh, founder and managing director of the Ministry of Future Affairs.
The EU’s pre-submission advice will only help one applicant at a time, she says.
“What we want to inspire is that there is a continuous learning cycle in the interest of the consumers.”
What is a regulatory sandbox?
A regulatory sandbox is a time-limited and supervised environment in which businesses can test out products or services with certain legal or regulatory requirements modified or disapplied. It aims to help regulators understand such products.
Regulatory advice is critical to build high-quality dossiers for novel food applications and to meet the regulatory timeline, explains Handschuh.
Increased understanding will reduce delays in the novel food application process. While the statutory timeline for novel foods’ authorisation is between 18 and 24 months, one study found that it on average takes two-and-a-half years, and sometimes even six years. These long application times have been cited as a reason for declining investor interest in certain novel foods, such as cultivated meat.
The aim of the sandbox is to gather insights from companies’ collaboration, says Handschuh, and inform future EU pre-submission advice with said insights. It takes direct inspiration from the UK’s cultivated meat sandbox.
“We hope to inspire and to inform the future EU pre-submission advice. That’s the ambition.”
New Foods RegLab will take place over a two-day period on 19 and 20 January 2027. It is open for applications now.
How will the platform work?
The platform will work as a way for companies to work together and share knowledge. It will also aim to build a systematic understanding of how potential novel food applicants understand and interpret existing guidance, therefore identifying gaps in understanding that need to be addressed.
Participants will spend two days with food safety regulatory experts, and take a structured look at companies’ regulatory positions and strategies. It will be led by Atova Regulatory Consulting on behalf of Ministry of Future Affairs.
Normally, regulatory sandboxes are run by regulators and often involve the easing of regulations to make testing products easier.
RegLab is not run by regulators, and will not involve the temporary relaxing of regulations, explains Handschuh. However, it will, like other sandboxes, create an environment where companies can share knowledge, with the eventual aim of helping shape EFSA’s pre-submission advice.
Yet New Foods RegLab will provide a crucial platform for companies to learn from each other.
