Novel food dossiers

For wolffia

Recently, the consumption of fresh Wolffia arrhiza and Wolffia globosa (also known and marketed under the name Mankai) has been approved by EFSA. In 2021, the Israeli company GreenOnyx opened a novel food dossier for both Wolffia species. These water lentils have been eaten for more than 25 years in Southeast Asia and consequently fall under the category of traditional foods. Accordingly, a fast-track Novel Food procedure was allowed, and eventually approved. Both species are now listed on the Union List, which describes the conditions under which water lentils may be used, labelling requirements and maximum contents of heavy metals and trace elements, among others.

An important note is that these Wolffia species can only be commercialised as fresh plants (vegetables). To also commercialise dried Wolffia powder, another Israeli company Hinoman opened  a new NF dossier on 24 September, 2019. This time, a more stringent procedure needed to be followed by EFSA, as this concentrated Wolffia powder is no longer categorised as a traditional food but must be evaluated as an NF. On 22 December, 2021, the EFSA Panel declined the approval because the NF’s safety could not be established. They concluded that an increase in manganese intake from this NF used as a food ingredient or food supplement is of safety concern. Therefore, at this moment, both Wolffia species are only commercially available as fresh plants (vegetables).

For Lemna

In addition to the Wolffia genus, several NF dossiers for the Lemna genus have also been initiated over the past years. For example, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) submitted an NF dossier for the commercialisation of Lemna minor and Lemna gibba. The production process described in this application includes a heat treatment (100 °C for 3–4 minutes), after washing the harvest with tap water, and storage at –20 °C. The aim was therefore to eventually sell frozen duckweed (L. minor and L. gibba) that could be incorporated into various applications, such as smoothies, cheese, and vegetarian products. This dossier was submitted on 20 May 2020 and was rejected on 28 September 2022. EFSA concluded that the concentration of manganese (5–21 mg/kg fresh duckweed) was higher compared to spinach and that safety could therefore not be guaranteed.

It is however remarkable that the dossier submitted by WUR was rejected because of the Lemna's manganese concentration as there is no upper limit for manganese set by the EU legislation. Additionally many plant-based food products that we consume, such as potato, oats, wheat, nuts and chickpeas contain similar or much higher concentrations of manganese as found in Lemna. Next, it is also striking that the two accepted wolffia species had manganese concentrations between 20-32 mg/kg FW and were approved by the EFSA panel as long as they would try to minimise it to max 6 mg/kg FW.

The mineral plant content is mainly influenced by the fertilisers added to the growing medium. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) managed to produce Lemna with manganese levels lower than 6 mg/kg FW. With this being demonstrated, discussions with the EFSA were being continued in order to get Lemna approved and allowed as a new sustainable protein-rich vegetable for human consumption in Europe. In July 2024 EFSA published a scientific and technical assistance report concluding that, with the new information that was provided by WUR, the contents of manganese in the NF (Lemna gibba and Lemna minor) have been reduced to levels not exceeding those in other leafy vegetables. Subsequently, on 29 January 2025, the European Commission authorised the placing on the market of Lemna minor and Lemna gibba plants as novel food, as per Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/153. This regulation includes the requirement that the manganese content in the novel food should not exceed 6 mg/kg fresh weight, aligning with levels found in other leafy vegetables. With this authorisation, Lemna gibba and Lemna minor are officially recognised as safe for consumption in the European Union.

To commercialise these Lemna species in a more concentrated powdered form, additional NF dossiers were started by the North-American company Parabel Ltd and a Dutch company Rubisco Foods (previously known as ABC-kroos). The dossier submitted by Parabel was rejected by the EFSA Panel as they considered that, based on the protein concentration, the consumption of the NF may trigger allergic reactions, again because of an expected increased manganese intake. The dossier submitted by Rubisco Foods, however, was approved in April 2023.

Written by Marie Lambert