Chia seed, Salvia hispanica, is an authorised novel food in the Union. It appears in the Union list of authorised novel foods established by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and it may be placed on the market only in the food categories and under the conditions that entry specifies.
Why it works this way
Chia had no significant history of consumption in the Union before May 1997, which is the cut-off in the novel food framework, so it required authorisation rather than simply compliance. The original authorisation was narrow, covering the seed in bread at a limited inclusion, and it was widened over time through successive applications.
The important amendment for buyers is Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/24, which extended the authorised food categories and removed the maximum use levels for most of them, following a safety assessment. That change is why chia moved from a specialist bakery ingredient to a broadly usable one across breakfast cereals, snacks, dairy analogues, fruit and vegetable products and other categories.
One qualification is often missed. Certain uses involving heat treatment above a defined temperature were treated separately because of acrylamide formation, and their authorisation was handled apart from the main extension. A manufacturer applying a high-temperature process to a chia-containing product should check the entry rather than assume the general permission covers it.
Authorisations are also, in the general case, capable of being granted with data protection to a single applicant for a period. Check whether the entry you rely on is a generic one or one still under data protection before designing a product around it.
What follows in practice
Read the current Union list entry for the food category you intend to use, keep the reference in the product file, and require the supplier to confirm the material is the authorised species and form. The chia seed product record sets out the specification side, and plant-based protein sourcing covers the wider documentation set for this category.