Consultation on market authorisation of one traditional food notification January 2026

This consultation will be of most interest to

All England, Wales, and Northern Ireland food and feed businesses, local and port health authorities, district councils, and other stakeholders with an interest in food and feed safety. A separate parallel consultation is being published by Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

Purpose of the consultation

This consultation seeks stakeholders’ views, comments and feedback in relation to the regulated product notification considered in this document, which has been submitted under Article 14 of assimilated Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 (“the Novel Food Regulations”) Notification of a traditional food from a third country:

• New authorisation of Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.)

How to respond

Responses to this consultation should be submitted via the online survey (opens in a new window). If this is not possible, you can email a response to RPconsultations@food.gov.uk.

Full details on how to respond are given below.

Definitions

The Regulated Product notification in this consultation is a traditional food from a third country. The following information and definitions may be of use when responding to this consultation.

Regulated products

Certain food and feed products, called regulated products, must go through a risk analysis process, and require authorisation before they can be sold in the UK. Read further background on placing a regulated product on the market, including the risk analysis and risk management processes, and Ministerial involvement.

Novel foods

Foods that were not used for human consumption to a significant degree within the UK or EU before 15 May 1997. In order to place new novel foods on the GB market or to change the specifications or conditions of use of authorised novel foods, applicants must submit an application in accordance with assimilated Regulation 2015/2283. Read novel foods authorisation guidance for further information.

Traditional food notification (‘Article 14’)

This is a simplified route to authorise products which have been consumed outside of the UK or EU for at least 25 continuous years before the notification is made. Applicants are encouraged to provide information on what can be learned about the safety risks from this existing use. There is a four-month period within which the review is conducted by FSA. If the FSA has no safety objections, the product is authorised and placed on the authorised list.

Authorisation of traditional food (‘Article 16’)

If the FSA does have safety objections following an Article 14 request, the product is not authorised for placing on the GB market. The applicant may then submit an application through the Article 16 route, where additional information is required, including information directly related to the safety objections raised by the FSA during the Article 14 process.  The FSA did not raise safety objections for the placing on the market of this product and therefore continues as an Article 14 notification.

Assimilated regulations

Directly applicable EU legislation no longer applies in GB. EU legislation, retained when the UK exited the EU, was assimilated on 31 December 2023. References to any legislation with ‘EU’ or ‘EC’ in the title should now be regarded as assimilated law where applicable to GB. Assimilated law is published on legislation gov.uk. References to ‘Retained EU Law’ or ‘REUL’ should now be regarded as references to assimilated law.

The Food and Feed Safety and Hygiene Provisional Common Framework is a non-statutory arrangement between the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to establish common approaches to policy areas where powers have returned from the EU within areas of devolved competence. This consultation has been developed under the commitments to collaborative four-nation working set out in this Framework. As such, this consultation has been developed through a four-nation approach. Final recommendations will be agreed on a four-nation basis before being presented to ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, with the Northern Ireland Health Minister kept informed. Northern Ireland continues to fully participate in the risk analysis processes concerning food and feed safety. This reflects Northern Ireland’s integral role within the UK and ensures that any decision made fully considers the potential impacts on the whole of the UK.

Scientific output summary and protective measure

The FSA and FSS risk assessors deliver the science behind our advice. They are responsible for identifying and characterising hazards and risks to health and assessing exposure levels. For this traditional food, The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) reviewed the notification and issued their output. The FSA’s response to their output can be found in the annex below.

Risk management

Our Policy advisors are responsible for the risk management outputs. The FSA risk management recommendations document present the factors that they have identified as relevant to this notification, including the potential impact of any decision made by ministers, and contain proposed terms of authorisation and other relevant provisions. A link to the risk management recommendations document for the notification can be found in the relevant annex below. 

Details of consultation

Introduction

This consultation seeks views on the regulated products notification for Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.). 

An overview of the details for this notification can be found in the below annex. For full and further information, please refer to the risk management recommendation document as hyperlinked in the annex. 

• Annex A RP2272, Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) (new) (Traditional Food)

In consulting, the FSA is seeking views from stakeholders on the proposed terms of authorisation and any labelling requirements. Stakeholders are invited to use this opportunity to comment or highlight any additional factors that should be brought to the attention of ministers before the notification is authorised.

Following the consultation, the next step is for the FSA to write to ministers in England and Wales regarding the terms of authorisation and labelling of this product, before placing on the market. In Scotland, FSS will write to their minister following the consultation, regarding the terms of authorisation and labelling of this product, before placing on the market. Ministers in Northern Ireland will be kept informed. 

This is in line with FSA and FSS responsibility to provide advice, information or assistance to ministers in respect of matters connected with food safety or other interests of consumers in relation to food (section 6, Food Standards Act 1999 and section 3, Food (Scotland) Act 2015). Once the relevant ministers are notified of the authorisation, they will take into account the risk management recommendations and any relevant provisions of assimilated law, raised during the consultation process. 

Impacts

As part of the risk analysis and risk management process, the FSA has assessed the potential impacts that would result from the proposals. The impacts considered included those most frequently identified as potential impacts when introducing or amending food and feed law (i.e. environmental, trade, political, environmental, societal, technical feasibility, and consumer interests). 

For the notification in this consultation, no significant impacts have been identified. Individual detailed impacts, including trade, Northern Ireland, and others, for the notification is listed in the corresponding risk management document. The authorisation of this product should generally result in greater market competition, supporting growth and innovation in the sector.

Engagement and consultation process

Details of all valid applications for regulated products are published monthly on the Register of Regulated Product Applications and available on the FSA website. 

Stakeholders are invited to consider the questions posed below in relation to any relevant provisions of assimilated law and other legitimate factors. 

Following the consultation process, responses will be made available on the FSA website and shared with ministers.

Questions

Questions asked in this consultation:

1. Do you have any comments or concerns on the terms on which Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is authorised (as outlined in the FSA and FSS risk management recommendation)?
2. Are there any other factors that should be considered by ministers that have not already been highlighted?
3. Do you have any other feedback? Including consideration of any relevant provisions of assimilated law and other legitimate factors (other evidence further supporting clear, rational and justifiable risk analysis, such as consumer interests, technical feasibility and environmental factors)

Responses

Responses are required by 11.59pm 25 February 2026. Please state, in your response, whether you are responding as a private individual or on behalf of an organisation/company (including details of any stakeholders your organisation represents).

Please respond to the consultation via the online survey (opens in a new window). If this is not possible, you can email a response to RPconsultations@food.gov.uk. 

Please indicate the application/product you are responding about by using the following subject line for your response: Response to RP2272 consultation on traditional food notification.

If responding by email, please state in your response whether you are responding as a private individual or on behalf of an organisation/company (including details of any stakeholders your organisation represents) and in which nation you are based. 

We aim to publish a summary of responses to this consultation around 3 months of the consultation closing. For information on how the FSA handles your personal data, please refer to the consultation privacy notice. 

Responses will be shared with ministers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Further information

If you require a more accessible format of this document, please send details to the named contact for responses to this consultation and your request will be considered.
This consultation has been prepared in accordance with HM Government consultation principles.

Thank you on behalf of the FSA for participating in this public consultation.

Annex A:  RP2272, Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) (new) (Traditional Food)

Background

A notification for the traditional food, Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) was submitted to the FSA for authorisation in Great Britain (GB) in October 2024 by WhatIF F&I Pte Ltd.  

For a traditional food from a third country to be placed on the market in GB, a notification shall be submitted in accordance with assimilated Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 (“the Novel Food Regulations”).  

Under Article 14 of the Regulation, traditional foods which have a history of safe use in a third country, as defined by Article 3.2(b) of the Novel Food Regulations, can be authorised by ministers. These authorised traditional foods will have been safely consumed outside of the United Kingdom and the European Union for at least 25 continuous years before the notification is made. 

Trade

Food exported from the UK to other countries/blocs will need to continue to meet the rules of those countries/blocs.

European Union (EU)

Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is already approved for use in the EU.

Northern Ireland

This product is already authorised for use in Northern Ireland. The authorisation of this product in GB would create alignment with Northern Ireland.  

FSA risk management recommendations

The FSA risk management recommendation concludes Bambara groundnut (seeds and seed flour of Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) as described in this notification, is safe and is not liable to have an adverse effect on the target population, environmental safety and human health at the intended concentrations of use.