Thailand Unveils the Food Safety Assessment Guidelines on Novel Food, Probiotics, Food Contaminants, Food Additives and Special Purposes Food

On June 27, 2023, Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signed two notifications regarding the food safety assessment, which are:

1. Notification of the Food and Drug Administration on Novel Food Safety Assessment Unit Accepted by the Food and Drug Administration and Novel Food Safety Assessment Guidelines (official document & ChemLinked translation)

2. Notification of the Food and Drug Administration on Food Safety Assessment Units Accepted by the Food and Drug Administration and Food Safety Assessment Guidelines (official document & ChemLinked translation)

The first document applies to the food safety assessment of novel food, while the second one is applicable to that of probiotics, food contaminants, food additives and special purposes food. Both two notifications illustrate the application procedure, safety assessment principles, assessment fees, designated agencies and the content of the evaluation report.

Take safety assessment of novel food for example, whose definition is as below, as per clarified by the first document.

1) substances used as food or food ingredients whose human consumption history as food is less than fifteen years; or

2) substances obtained from food made through a new production process which leads to the change of composition, structure, etc.

3) food containing substances under 1) or 2) as ingredients. 

According to the notification, novel food will be evaluated from multiple aspects, including the production process, chemical residues, toxicity, consumption suitability for Thai people, scientific data supporting the effectiveness (if any), etc.

When it comes to the assessment application, the applicant needs to submit the required documents to the safety assessment units accepted by Thai FDA. The agency will check the completeness and correctness of the documentation first, then conduct technical review with experts. After that, the evaluation report will be sent to FDA, which will then deliver the final result. The assessment procedures of probiotics, food additives, and special purposes food are almost similar.

Please check the detailed requirements in Notification of the Food and Drug Administration on Novel Food Safety Assessment Unit Accepted by the Food and Drug Administration and Novel Food Safety Assessment Guidelines and Notification of the Food and Drug Administration on Food Safety Assessment Units Accepted by the Food and Drug Administration and Food Safety Assessment Guidelines.