On January 27, 2026, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) published the “Principles for Safety Assessment of Novel Food Ingredients.”

    These Principles, which will apply to Novel Food ingredients in Taiwan, describe the application process and the essential requirements to consider: 

        1. Definition of a Novel Food Ingredient: 

            • Ingredients that lack a sufficient history of safe consumption in Taiwan before December 31, 1999

            • Ingredients whose way of consumption differs from traditional use.

            • Traditional food ingredients whose composition, structure, or form has been altered through non-traditional technologies, breeding, propagation, or novel processing technologies (genetically modified foods or irradiated foods are excluded).

        2. Questionnaire to determine whether an ingredient qualifies as a Novel Food Ingredient

        3. Safety assessment procedure and required documentation

        4. Requirements and required data for ingredients produced by genetically modified microorganisms.

    The regulation took effect on January 27, 2026.