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Germany: updated list of plants

The German Authorities (BVL) published on their website in October 2020 a new list of plants and mushrooms (29 September 2020) replacing the BVL report Plants of September 2014.

This revision was prepared by representatives from BVL, BfR, and BfArM (Germany), and also representatives from Switzerland and Austria as well as external experts.

This new list consists of an explanatory document and 3 excel files (1 column per plant).

This new list contains 283 new entries for mushrooms and 867 entries for plants, including more than 200 additional plants compared to the 2014 version (a majority of these additional plants are classified in list A, i.e. not recommended for use in food or considered as novel food); data on numerous plants already present in the 2014 list have been updated, in particular with regard to their use in food supplement, the existing EMA monographs and the novel food status (with reference to authorized novel foods).

This list is not legally binding, but serves as a guide for the evaluation of plants: it contains indications on food use or not, use only in food supplement, novel food status, possible restrictions, existing monographs and possible doses considered to be pharmacological.

Photo by Victoria Strukovskaya on Unsplash