A recent scientific publication (Mendes et al., 2022) provides a detailed overview of the biodiversity and applications related to algae and microalgae, in Europe, with a focus on their use in the food sector. (1)
More than 150 species of algae are reported to be consumed regularly in the Old Continent, but only 20 percent of them have received an official green light, according to Regulation (EU) No. 2015/2283 on Novel Foods (2,3).
The growth potential of the European market for algae and microalgae appears significant after all, due to their nutritional and health-promoting virtues. And progress on the research and innovation fronts should promote its development.
1) Algae and microalgae, history of consumption.
Historical and bibliographic analysis enabled the large group of researchers (Mendes et al., 2022) to identify a history of algae and microalgae consumption rooted in centuries and millennia. (1)
1.1) Algae
Food consumption of algae, or macroalgae, is generally associated with Far-East countries (e.g., China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan). Archaeological finds collected, moreover, have demonstrated the uses for food and medicinal purposes of algae in some South American countries (e.g., Chile) as early as 14,000 years ago.
In Europe, seaweed has contributed to the subsistence diet for many coastal populations, in Portugal as well as Norway. In Italy (Sicily) there is historical consumption of seaweed – Ulva lactuca (or sea lettuce) and Chondracanthus teedei (known as ‘Mauru’), seasoned with lemon and salt, like salad – by fishermen and vacationers.
1.2) Microalgae
Spirulina
, the best-known species among the microalgae (albeit a cyanobacterium) appears to have been cultivated and consumed by the Aztecs as early as the 14th century, in Africa since the 9th century A.D. And it is equally as old in Asia to have been consumed by the microalga Nostoc.
Europeans, on the other hand, have learned about the benefits associated with microalgae consumption only in recent decades, thanks to the import of foods and dietary supplements made from Spirulina and
Chlorella
from Asia and North America.
2) Algae and microalgae in Europe.
Algae production in Europe is mainly for the food sector. There are still few cultivated microalgae species, partly because of regulatory barriers to market access. Production costs are still high and not competitive with those in Asia. Although research in the EU is now also directed toward the use of solar energy, precisely to reduce the costs of (energy-intensive) drying processes.
However, researchers predict positive market growth for algae and microalgae in Europe in the coming years, starting with Spain. Increasing numbers of food references withhalo seaweed, as well as food supplements with microalgae. And innovation is on the horizon in the macro-category of vegan products, from plant-based creams to dairy alternatives, with the added value of proteins and bioactive substances with high health value.
3) Novel Foods?
One of the main obstacles to the development of algae and microalgae production and market in the European Union is the European Novel Foods framework (EU reg. 2015/2283). To which was added, most recently, a questionable ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
3.1) Novel Food, the requirements
Operators wishing to place algae and microalgae on the EU market, including importers, must ensure compliance with the European Novel Foods Framework. That is, products must be able to be qualified as:
– traditional foods as having an established safe consumption history in the EU prior to 15.5.97. Their use can continue without the need for permission (without neglecting possible uncertainties, related to the form of use of an extract, for example),
– authorized novel foods . In compliance with the requirements and conditions of use, to be verified precisely and in a timely manner. With attention to permits provided exclusively (e.g.
Euglena gracilis
). (3)
If a seaweed species is in the process of being authorized or unauthorized, however, it is necessary to wait for the completion of the evaluation and approvalprocess at the EU level, i.e., to submit a special application for authorization. (4)
3.1) QPS, Qualified Presumption of Safety.
Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) status can facilitate EFSA regarding the safety assessment of microalgae, provided that the absence of live, viable cells in the new food is guaranteed. (5) The microalgae so far attributed of this status are:
– Tetraselmis chuii,
– Euglena gracilis,
– Haematococcus pluvialis(Haematococcus lacustris),
– Schizochytrium limacinum(Aurantiochytrium limacinum). (6)
4) PROALGA List
PROALGA, Associação Portuguesa Dos Produtores De Algas, has published a comprehensive list of algae and microalgae consumed in Europe. (2) A valuable tool also for assessing the status of different species, complementing the Novel Food Catalogue managed by the European Commission and the Union Novel Food List (UNFL) annexed to reg. EU 2017/2470.
The PROALGA List provides a wide range of information:
– group of algae. Green, red, brown for macroalgae and microalgae in sensu stricto, cyanobacteria for microalgae,
– scientific name of the seaweed,
– common name. In several languages where available,
– Country of main consumption,
– status and mode of consumption. E.g. novel food, traditional food, food additive, food supplement (in the latter case it also complements the BELFRIT list),
– Bibliographic references, before and after 1997. (7)
The cultivation systems of microalgae (open or closed) and macroalgae (wild or aquaculture) are also reported, with notes on their advantages and disadvantages.
5) European research projects
The European Commission has funded more than 100 research and innovation projects, almost all of them dedicated to microalgae, for a total amount exceeding 220 million euros. With applications in various sectors besides food (e.g., organic feed and biostimulants, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, renewable energy).
The summary of projects funded under the Horizon 2020 program (including ProFuture, in which our team at Wiise S.r.l. benefit participates) shows a preponderant engagement of research institutions and companies based in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Norway and the Netherlands.
6) Interim Conclusions
Algae and microalgae-although still uncommon in Europe, outside of some coastal communities and macrobiotic culture-have a centuries-old, millennia-long history of consumption in various areas of the planet. Useful strategies must now be adopted to reduce their production costs and encourage the inclusion of these ingredients with high nutritional quality in a wide variety of foods.
A number of research projects co-funded by the European Commission in Horizon programs (e.g., ProFuture, SeaFoodTomorrow) aim to provide useful results to optimize the availability of these valuable as well as sustainable and functional sources of protein and nutrients and micronutrients. (8)
7) Phycogastronomy, phycogastronomy
Phycogastronomy
– the crasis between the word algae, in ancient Greek ‘phýkos’ (φύκος), and gastronomy – is the neologism devised to promote research into the uses of algae and microalgae in cooking. These foods, once the basis of coastal peoples’ subsistence and medicinal wisdom, are now also being reevaluated in their sensory dimension.
Taste the Ocean
is the EU initiative that has seen internationally renowned top chefs confront each other in the preparation of gourmet ‘ficogastronomic’ dishes. (9)
#SDG2, Zero Hunger. #SDG3, Ensure Health and Well-being. #SDG12, Sustainable Consumption and Production.
Dario Dongo and Andrea Adelmo Della Penna
Cover image from Mendes et al. (2022). See footnote 1.
Notes
(1) Mendes et al. (2022). Algae as Food in Europe: An Overview of Species Diversity and Their Application. Foods 11:1871, https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11131871
(2) Mendes et al. (2022). Algae as Food in Europe: An Overview of Species Diversity and Their Application. Foods 11:1871, Supplementary Material, https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/13/1871/s1?version=1656554923
(3) Dario Dongo, Giulia Torre. Microalgae for food use and Novel Foods regulation, the state of the art in the EU. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade), 29.1.22
(4) Dario Dongo, Giulia Torre. Notification of Traditional Foods from Third Countries as Novel Foods in the EU. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade), 4.3.22
(5) Dario Dongo, Giulia Torre. Microalgae, novel food and qualified presumption of safety of microorganisms. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade), 4.5.22
(6) Despite falling under protists many of them, in the same way as cyanobacteria (e.g. Spirulina) are considered as microalgae (other examples are diatoms or Euglena algae)
(7) The Novel Foods authorization framework (EU reg. 2015/2283) applies to all foods with no demonstrated history of safe consumption in the EU prior to 15.5.97 (the effective date of the first Novel Food Regulation, reg. EC 258/1997)
(8) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. Incorporating seaweed into the diet, a promising scenario for health and the planet. #SEAFOODTOMORROW. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade), 18.1.22
(9) Ole G. Mouritsen, O. G. Mouritsen, Prannie Rhatigan, P. Rhatigan, & José Lucas Pérez-Lloréns, J. Lucas Pérez-Lloréns. (2019). The rise of seaweed gastronomy: phycogastronomy. Marine Botany, 62, 195-209. doi: 10.1515/bot-2018-0041
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in Food Technologies and Biotechnologies, qualified food technologist, he follows the research and development area. With particular regard to European research projects (in Horizon 2020, PRIMA) where the FARE division of WIISE Srl, a benefit company, participates.
