Is Sumac a novel food or not in the UK?

Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone maybe able to offer some experience here please. I have a client who I help out on a monthly basis. I am onsite today and they have said they would like to launch a new product that has sumac in it. 

Its not an ingredient I am familiar with but after some research I now know what it is. The one thing that i am unsure about however is that if it is a novel food and if so, what do I need to consider here? 

I found sumac bark listed on a report discussing sumac but not the ground fruit version (as this ingredient is).

Anyone know much about this?

Many thanks!

I can't see any species of sumac listed in the Novel Foods catalogue: https://ec.europa.eu...ublic/index.cfm

(Would be listed under its binomial name, but there is nothing at all under Rhus sp.)

Generally this is probably a good sign that it isn't considered novel, and similarly I note that e.g. Schwarz are selling it - if reputable brands have it listed then it similarly implies it's not novel.

If you want to be absolutely certain then you could always drop a note to the FSA (regulatedproducts(at)food.gov.uk) just to check, but from what I can see, it would seem to be non-novel.

Greetings, I am in a similar situation, I have a client who has a novel food to be registered to the UK FSA and I am working on that. FSA requires administrative, technical dossiers and other documents. I am not sure how to design those. I have designed HACCP documents and ISO manuals so I think this would not be completely alien to me. If anyone has sample dossiers they can share then it would be extremely helpful.