§ 13 — Meaning of “defined food”

13.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, food is defined food if the food —(a)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient a novel food in respect of which no pre‑market approval is granted;

(b)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient a genetically modified food in respect of which no pre‑market approval is granted; or

(c)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient, in any form (whether whole or in parts and whether fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, or as flour) an edible insect‑like species which is not a catalogued insect‑like species.

(2) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, by order in the Gazette, declare an edible insect‑like species as a catalogued insect‑like species where the Agency is satisfied that the insect‑like species, where made available for consumption by the general public, is not food of higher regulatory concern.

(3) In this section —“engineered nanomaterial” means any intentionally produced material that has one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less or that is composed of discrete functional parts, either internally or at the surface, many of which have one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less, including structures, agglomerates or aggregates, which may have a size above the order of 100 nm but retain properties that are characteristic of the nanoscale;

“genetically modified food” means a food coming from an organism that has been altered using any of the following techniques, such that the resulting organism contains a combination of hereditable genetic material that could not have occurred naturally or could not have been produced by traditional breeding and selection:(a)

in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant nucleic acids and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles;

(b)

fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family,

and excludes any novel food and any food that is, consists of or has as an ingredient an insect‑like species which has not been so altered;

Example

Any animal, plant or micro‑organism which is modified by genetic engineering.

“novel food” means —(a)

a substance (which may consist of, be isolated from or produced from, cell culture or tissue culture derived from animals, plants, bacteria or yeast, fungi, algae or other micro‑organism) that has not been used to a significant degree as food for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore;

(b)

a food that has been manufactured, prepared or preserved by a process that has not been previously used in food production for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore;

(c)

a food consisting of, isolated from or produced from material of mineral origin that has not been previously used in food production for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore; or

(d)

a food that contains or consists of engineered nanomaterials,

but does not include any food that is, consists of or has as an ingredient an insect-like species in any form.

—(1) For the purposes of this Act, food is defined food if the food —(a)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient a novel food in respect of which no pre‑market approval is granted;

(b)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient a genetically modified food in respect of which no pre‑market approval is granted; or

(c)

is, consists of or has as an ingredient, in any form (whether whole or in parts and whether fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, or as flour) an edible insect‑like species which is not a catalogued insect‑like species.

(2) The Agency may, with the approval of the Minister, by order in the Gazette, declare an edible insect‑like species as a catalogued insect‑like species where the Agency is satisfied that the insect‑like species, where made available for consumption by the general public, is not food of higher regulatory concern.

(3) In this section —“engineered nanomaterial” means any intentionally produced material that has one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less or that is composed of discrete functional parts, either internally or at the surface, many of which have one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less, including structures, agglomerates or aggregates, which may have a size above the order of 100 nm but retain properties that are characteristic of the nanoscale;

“genetically modified food” means a food coming from an organism that has been altered using any of the following techniques, such that the resulting organism contains a combination of hereditable genetic material that could not have occurred naturally or could not have been produced by traditional breeding and selection:(a)

in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant nucleic acids and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles;

(b)

fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family,

and excludes any novel food and any food that is, consists of or has as an ingredient an insect‑like species which has not been so altered;

Example

Any animal, plant or micro‑organism which is modified by genetic engineering.

“novel food” means —(a)

a substance (which may consist of, be isolated from or produced from, cell culture or tissue culture derived from animals, plants, bacteria or yeast, fungi, algae or other micro‑organism) that has not been used to a significant degree as food for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore;

(b)

a food that has been manufactured, prepared or preserved by a process that has not been previously used in food production for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore;

(c)

a food consisting of, isolated from or produced from material of mineral origin that has not been previously used in food production for a period of at least 20 years, whether within or outside Singapore; or

(d)

a food that contains or consists of engineered nanomaterials,

but does not include any food that is, consists of or has as an ingredient an insect-like species in any form.