Safety of EstroG-100™as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 258/97

Comparative sub-chronic toxicity studies in rats of two indistinguishable herbal plants, Cynanchum wilfordii (Maxim.) Hemsley and Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight

Sub-chronic toxicity studies using rats have been conducted for Cynanchum wilfordii (Maxim.) Hemsley (CW) and Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight (CA). CW water extract didn't show any adverse effects whereas administering CW powder decreased body weights in complication with decreased food consumptions. In the case of CA water extract, triglyceride and absolute/relative liver weights were elevated and vacuolation was observed in liver. Treated CA powder in male rats increased alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase and induced single cell necrosis and multinucleated hepatocyte in liver. As for female rats, increased absolute/relative weights and hypertrophy/vacuolation in adrenal glands and vacuolation in ovaries were observed when administered CA powder. In conclusion, no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of CW water extract was over 5000 mg/kg/day, while NOAEL of CW powder was 700 mg/kg/day for female and 150 mg/kg/day for male. In case of CA, NOAEL of water extract was 1500 mg/kg/day for male and 2000 mg/kg/day for female, while NOAEL of powder was 150 mg/kg/day for both gender. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first sub-chronic toxicity study on the adverse effects, target organs and its dose levels of C. wilfordii (Maxim.) Hemsley and C. auriculatum Royle ex Wight following GLP protocols.

Novel foods in the European Union: Scientific requirements and challenges of the risk assessment process by the European Food Safety Authority

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been involved in the risk assessment of novel foods since 2003. The implementation of the current novel food regulation in 2018 rendered EFSA the sole entity of the European Union responsible for such safety evaluations. The risk assessment is based on the data submitted by applicants in line with the scientific requirements described in the respective EFSA guidance document. The present work aims to elaborate on the rationale behind the scientific questions raised during the risk assessment of novel foods, with a focus on complex mixtures and whole foods. Novel foods received by EFSA in 2003-2019 were screened and clustered by nature and complexity. The requests for additional or supplementary information raised by EFSA during all risk assessments were analyzed for identifying reoccurring issues. In brief, it is shown that applications concern mainly novel foods derived from plants, microorganisms, fungi, algae, and animals. A plethora of requests relates to the production process, the compositional characterization of the novel food, and the evaluation of the product's toxicological profile. Recurring issues related to specific novel food categories were noted. The heterogeneous nature and the variable complexity of novel foods emphasize the challenge to tailor aspects of the evaluation approach to the characteristics of each individual product. Importantly, the scientific requirements for novel food applications set by EFSA are interrelated, and only a rigorous and cross-cutting approach adopted by the applicants when preparing the respective application dossiers can lead to scientifically sound dossiers. This is the first time that an in-depth analysis of the experience gained by EFSA in the risk assessment of novel foods and of the reasoning behind the most frequent scientific requests by EFSA to applicants is made.