Novel Food Regulation and WHO Strategy
2nd January 2026
Words by Rox Madeira
The Novel Food Act
The UK Government has tightened its regulatory rules on herbal medicines with its recent enforcement of the Novel Food Act. This states that any substance that was not consumed in the UK, or EU, before 15 May 1997 is a novel food. These novel foods cannot be sold in the UK without going through a formal authorisation process.any substance that was not consumed in the UK, or EU, before 15 May 1997 is a novel food.
Medicinal Mushrooms
Before Christmas the FSA declared that two medicinal mushrooms – Turkey Tail and Cordyceps – could no longer be sold due to them being considered ‘Novel Foods’ in the UK and having no history of safety. The move is being framed as a way to keep consumers safe from companies who may not be careful in their selection of mushrooms. One source I spoke to agreed that there had been various companies selling the wrong mushrooms or wrong parts of mushrooms, and so welcomed a review of current practice, not an outright ban, as a way to stop the watering down of herbal remedies.
Cordyceps
Turkey Tail
Broader implications
An outright sales ban brings risks of access to herbs, to herbal practice and to legitimate small scale artisan producers, shrinking our materia medica and making it very Euro-centric, as herbs which have a long history of use outside of the UK and Europe, such as these mushrooms, are being classified as novel and restricted.Cultural implications
This ruling ultimately has a cultural bias as these mushrooms have a very long history of safe traditional use and scientific study outside of Europe.Implications for patients
This ban will heavily impact patient choice, diaspora communities and their access to traditional medicines, and will also cause a break in sharing of knowledge by global traditions.Implications for business
There is also the risk of corporate capture as large companies are able to pay the high compliance costs to carry out extensive safety assessments, documentation and approval before they are able to sell it, which pushes small-scale producers out of the market. It is currently uncertain whether the regulators will stop at these two mushrooms or if they will continue to ban other well-used products, thus narrowing the availability of herbs in the UK to only Eurocentric plants.WHO Traditional Health Strategy
Meanwhile, The World Health Organisation has approved its 2025-2035 traditional health strategy. Its aims being to standardise and regulate Traditional Medicines across the globe, calling on countries to invest in research to integrate traditional medicines into modern healthcare systems, and protect traditional knowledge and biodiversity. Some advocates are supportive, believing it to be a positive step to integrate and value traditional medicines which have been used for thousands of years. The recent WHO summit hailed it as a much needed strategy to restore balance in the environment and health practices. However, the strategy calls for stringent research which uses biomedical models which don’t always fit the practices used, risking these being marginalised or erased, increasing the push towards pharmacy-style medicine and regulation. Whilst traditional medicine is reshaped to fit these parameters it risks losing context, philosophy and practitioner autonomy and being dominated by western understanding of medicine. There is also the risk of commercial exploitation as small-scale producers and practitioners are pushed out.What can herbalists do?
● Collectively we can support practitioner-led bodies to push for consultations and take clear positions on ‘novel foods’ and patient choice. ● We can push for practitioner-led regulation to protect professional autonomy. ● We can gather historical and scientific evidence to demonstrate traditional uses of natural medicines. ● Support calls for protective statutory regulation that recognises global traditional knowledge and allows herbalists to collaborate on practice-based evidence, whilst building connections between European, TCM, Ayurvedic, African and other indigenous diaspora.Who controls
At the end of the day, the novel foods ruling is not about mushrooms or any other herbs, but about who gets to define food, medicine and tradition in the UK and the WHO strategy could potentially be catastrophic for acceptance of traditional medicine if not done in a sensitive culturally-appropriate manner.Further information
If you would like to hear more on this topic, I will be doing podcasts in January with:- Tom Baxter of Bristol Funagrium who are currently fighting the Novel Food ruling. You can support their fight at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/taking-a-stand-against-the-novel-food-classification,
- Garreth Falls, the Wild Irish Sage, where I first heard of the WHO strategy
- and Dr Clare and Mr Morrissey whose new book Uprooted Medicine uncovers how the current medical model side-lined the world’s oldest healing tradition. By drawing on both original sources and forgotten archives, they reveal the price we’ve paid in forgotten healing methods, and the personal cost of drug-related harm accompanying recent medical gains.