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Guidelines on Novel Food
Novel food, such as cultivated meat, cannot be sold in Singapore unless it meets the requirements under the Novel Food Regulatory Framework.
Contents in this page
Who must comply with Novel Food Regulatory Framework?
Anyone who wants to manufacture, import, distribute, and sell novel food in Singapore.
What is novel food?
Novel food is as food and food ingredients that do not have a history of safe use, as defined in the Novel Food Regulatory Framework. More information on the Framework is at Overview of Novel Food Regulatory Framework.
What are the requirements for the manufacturing, import, distribution and sale of novel food?
You must obtain SFA’s pre-market approval before producing/manufacturing, importing, distributing, or selling novel food or food ingredients.
To obtain pre-market approval, you must conduct and submit safety assessments of your novel food products for SFA’s review to ascertain that potential food safety issues have been addressed and the novel food product is safe for consumption.
How do I comply with the requirements?
Step 1: Download and review the detailed requirements
Before you produce or sell novel food, consult SFA as early as possible to understand the information you need to submit to SFA to demonstrate that your novel food product is safe.
Early consultation can help companies identify potential risks and ensure that these risks are appropriately managed.
It is a requirement for all novel food manufacturers or importers to conduct safety assessments. The assessments should cover potential food safety risks such as toxicity, allergenicity, the safety of the production methods used, and dietary exposure arising from consumption.
If the novel food is derived from precision/biomass fermentation, or is a form of cultivated meat/seafood, you must complete the self-assessment checklists below:
Once you have completed the checklist, you will receive an acknowledgement. You must attach the acknowledgement to your pre-approval application when you submit it to SFA.
self-assessment checklists together with the acknowledgements
There are no fees imposed when you are submitting your application.
Step 6: SFA reviews your application
SFA will review the safety assessments to determine if potential food safety issues have been addressed.
An evaluation of a novel food product will take an estimated 9-12 months upon receipt of a complete application. No fees will be charged.
During this time, SFA might contact you for more information if required.
Step 7: Receive pre-market approval
You will receive an email notification from SFA if you have been granted pre-market approval for your novel food product.
You must seek SFA’s approval again if and when:
You have made changes to the manufacturing process of the novel food product, and these changes might affect the validity of the original safety assessment submitted. For example, when you change the input materials (e.g. cell lines or culture media components) in the production of cultivated meat, you must seek approval again.
Until approval is granted, novel food products made using the updated manufacturing process cannot be imported, distributed, or sold in Singapore.
You want to expand the scope of the intended use of your novel food product to other food categories.
