Embracing Novel Ingredients and Flavors

Recently, the global population has started to embrace novel ingredients and flavors. This is largely a result of the cost-of-living crisis, which has had a huge impact on how consumers shop and eat. Now, people are more willing than ever to experiment with meals and try novelty foods and ingredients that they perhaps wouldn’t have done in the past. Exciting, right? Over the coming years, this is a trend that’s highly likely going to continue — and you can be a part of it, too.

Are Novel Foods Safe? 

When it comes to novelty foods and ingredients, the biggest concern that people have is safety. After all, nobody wants to add novel foods to their diet only to find that the foods they’ve chosen are unsafe or poor quality.

The good news is that the vast majority of novel foods are 100% safe. This is because food manufacturers and suppliers prioritize safety and hygiene above everything else and have waited for ingredients to be approved by regulators. This way, the risk of foodborne diseases¹ reaching consumers is drastically reduced.

Some of the main ways that companies ensure their novel food is safe include:

• Following a HACCP food plan
• Conducting food safety audits
• Using food safety management software

At this moment in time, food safety management software from safefood360.com is very popular. This is a type of software that enables them to stay compliant with industry regulations, keep track of food statuses, and get automatic updates on global standards and legislation. Novel foods, in particular, can change all the time. Essentially, it’s a no-brainer to use food safety management software if you operate in the industry, as it ultimately enables you to produce novel foods that are safe for consumption.

The Best Novel Ingredients 

Novel ingredients are food ingredients that were not used prior to 1997. Often, these ingredients are unique and different and potentially hold the key to creating an eco-friendly and sustainable future for the planet, which is ultimately why they’re becoming so popular.

Now, whether you’re a food manufacturer or an everyday consumer, you might be interested to learn about the best novel ingredients currently. The truth is that there are a lot to choose from and enjoy, so this guide has condensed the best ones down into a shortlist. Let’s take a closer look.

Insects

Insects are fast becoming a novel ingredient. Although it sounds a little crazy, it’s true — and many experts predict that insects will play a big part in the human diet over the coming decades. For example, the World Health Economic Forum² regularly advocates the eating of insects, citing that eating insects will help to reduce climate change. Plus, there’s no need to worry about food safety, as it’s been proven that insects are safe to eat.

Seaweed 

Next, there’s seaweed, which is an approved novel food in the EU³. The main pro of seaweed is that it contains plenty of antioxidants ⁴and protective pigments⁵, which make it perfect for human consumption and overall health. One thing is for certain: seaweed holds great potential when it comes to future sustainability, much like insects do.

Allanblackia Seed Oil

Allanblackia seed⁶ oil is another excellent novel ingredient that’s derived from the seeds of Allanblackia trees. Because it has a relatively neutral taste, it’s used in cooking and can even work as a substitute for other ingredients like coconut oil.

Final Thoughts

Now, you know all about some of the trending novel ingredients at the moment and can even try them yourself. See what you think — you might love them.

1. Pires, Sara M., et al. “Burden of foodborne diseases: Think global, act local.” Current Opinion in Food Science 39 (2021): 152-159. ↩︎
2. Rodrigues, Charlene MC, and Stanley A. Plotkin. “Impact of vaccines; health, economic and social perspectives.” Frontiers in microbiology 11 (2020): 1526. ↩︎
3. Economidou, Marina, et al. “Review of 50 years of EU energy efficiency policies for buildings.” Energy and Buildings 225 (2020): 110322. ↩︎
4. Gulcin, İlhami. “Antioxidants and antioxidant methods: An updated overview.” Archives of toxicology 94.3 (2020): 651-715. ↩︎
5. Sajjad, Wasim, et al. “Pigment production by cold-adapted bacteria and fungi: colorful tale of cryosphere with wide range applications.” Extremophiles 24 (2020): 447-473. ↩︎
6. Quaisie, Janet, et al. “Effect of ultrasound-microwave irradiation hybrid technique on extraction, physicochemical, antioxidative, and structural properties of stearic acid-rich Allanblackia parviflora seed oil.” Chemical Papers 75.9 (2021): 4527-4541. ↩︎

Last Updated on January 18, 2024 by Suchi