In an increasingly globalized and diverse world, our diet is constantly changing, often receiving new foods. we tell you what are “novel foods” or new food and how they can help take care of the environment.
Novel foods or novel foods
The concept of new foods or novel foods refers to unusual, unconventional and innovative food that little by little are populating our kitchen.
It is not a simple gastronomic fad but a concept collected and defined by the European Union as those food ingredients or food that has not been used to a significant extent for human consumption.
Thus, it can be food or ingredients that contain organisms genetically modified or, of modified molecular structure or new as well as food with ingredients that have undergone a different production process; which can influence its nutritional value, its metabolism or its content of undesirable substances.
In this sense, a novel food or new food in Europe may be a traditional food in another part of the world.
The environmental impact of novel foods
novel foods or new food, Given its innovation and possibility of being created according to the needs of the environment as well as the nutritional requirements of people today; They allow, among other things, to have a positive impact on the ecology of each country that uses them.
Thus, it is believed that new foods or novel food would lead to a much more sustainable food system and friendly to the environment.
This is partly because new foods can substitute animal protein sources and in this way, help reduce the impact of meat production on the environment.
In fact, a recent study concludes that replacing animal-based foods in the current European diet with novel foods, can reduce all environmental impacts by more than 80% favoring the achievement of a diet of good nutritional quality and sustainable over time.
Undoubtedly, novel foods or new foods, due to the use of new technologies, their ingredients and for being able to be modified according to current needs; can be very favorable for the care of the environment as well as for improvements in the nutritional quality of our diet.
Some examples of novel foods or new food
According to European Union regulations, any food not significantly consumed before May 1997 It is considered a new food or novel food.
Under this definition, the insects protein sources are excellent examples of novel foods in Europe as well as the cultured milk or lab-created meat.
Other novel food options that are increasingly widespread in Spain are, for example, prickly pearthe okra native to Africa, the purple ube (a tuber) or certain mushrooms and algae.
Novel foods or novel foods are increasingly intended to replace foods of animal originwhose production has a high environmental cost but are necessary to obtain quality proteins in the daily diet.
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