What are "Novel" foods?

German courts are dealing more and more with the question whether products made of the tropical fruit, Morinda Citrifolia (Noni), should be considered as a Novel food according to European decree No. 258/97. Recent court rulings discuss the question whether the importer is able to prove a history of safe food use. However, up to the authors opinion, this question is not relevant because the noni fruit does not fall under Novel Food regulations at all. A legal interpretation of the Novel Food decree clearly shows that the lawmaker did not want to regulate natural existing fruits, but rather manmade derivations of already existing plants. This argument is supported by the history of the decree itself and by the proceedings described in the decree, which always reflect the situation that in order to estimate the safety of a novel food, it has to be compared to the original from which it has been derived. As the non! fruit is the original and no manmade derivation has been made, this leads to the conclusion that even the fundamental Novel Food principles are not applicable in this case. Therefore, products made out of this fruit cannot be considered to fall under this regulation.