Food Standard Agencies in England, Wales, and Scotland approve the use of monk fruit

A new ruling will unlock the opportunity for monk fruit to be used as a naturally sweet, low-calorie ingredient in food and beverage products sold in the UK.

Monk Fruit Corp, a leading monk fruit company, has announced it has received confirmation from the UK FSA that monk fruit decoctions have been consumed to a significant degree in the UK before May 1997 and are therefore not a novel food ingredient.

The company says the move aligns the UK with the US, Canada, Australia, India, Mexico, New Zealand and Israel where regulatory approvals for monk fruit as a sweetener and as a not novel food are already in place.

Monk Fruit Corp notes that as the UK was an EU Member State until February 2020, the decision from UK FSA also provides independent verification that monk fruit decoctions were consumed as food to a significant degree in the EU before May 1997. As a result, monk fruit decoctions may now be sold as not novel food in the EU, and, as in the UK, may be used as an ingredient in food and beverage products sold in the EU.

Classification of food as “not novel” under European Union and UK guidance requires evidence of significant consumption of the food in the EU prior to May 1997. Monk Fruit Corp spent more than seven years collecting evidence of monk fruit decoction consumption and preparing a thorough and persuasive dossier which was submitted to the FSA.

In commenting on the FSA’s decision, David Thorrold, Monk Fruit Corp general manager of sales & marketing, he said the news adds a “clean-label, 100% natural” option to a sugar reduction tool for food and beverage companies and consumers.

Thorrold continues, “There is a huge potential for monk fruit in the UK and EU. Monk fruit decoctions are a unique food ingredient because they contribute sweetness while adding minimal sugar and calories. This is thanks to the sweet mogroside molecule which occurs naturally in the fruit”.

Monk Fruit Corp was founded in 2004 and has a vision to operate as a large scale, environmentally and economically sustainable business, in long-term partnership with growers and their communities. Monk Fruit Corp’s goal is to supply healthier, more ecologically sound food and beverage ingredient solutions to the benefit of both people and the planet.

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