Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's food strategy white paper, published on June 2022, what steps the Food Standards Agency is taking to help food producers conduct (a) safe and (b) limited tastings of novel food products.

Under retained EU Regulation 2015/2283, a novel food is only deemed safe to be placed on the market in Great Britain after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has processed an application for the authorisation of the novel food.

For foods that are still in the research and development phase prior to authorisation guidance issued by the FSA Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes in 2002 confirms that taste trials are permitted as long as they are not conducted for marketing or advertising purposes.