EU rules acorns from three oak species are not novel foods

The European Commission has concluded that acorns from three oak species, Quercus robur, Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus suber, are not novel foods, because they have a history of consumption in the EU. Until now only two acorn types were listed in the EU Novel Foods Catalogue, and one of them was limited to food supplements. The ruling removes regulatory uncertainty for flours, bakery products, drinks and other foods made from acorns. It follows work by the OakFood consortium, funded through Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan, which gathered evidence of consumption before 1997 in several European countries.