COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGUL ATION (EU) 2020/917 
of 1 July 2020 
author ising the placing on the marke t of infusion from coffee leaves of Coff ea arabica L. and/or Coff ea 
canephor a Pier re ex A. Froehner as a traditional food from a third countr y under Regulation (EU) 
2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Implementing Regulation 
(EU) 2017/2470 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUR OPEAN COMMISSION, 
Havi ng regar d to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
Havi ng regar d to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on 
novel foods, amending Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing 
Regulation (EC) No 258/97 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1852/2001 (1), and in particular Article 15(4) thereof, 
Whereas: 
(1) Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 provides that only novel foods author ised and included in the Union list may be placed 
on the mark et within the Union. Traditional food from a third countr y is a novel food defined in Article 3(2)(c) of 
Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. 
(2) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2468 (2) lays down administrative and scientific requirements 
concer ning traditional foods from third countr ies. 
(3) Pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, Commission Imple menting Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 (3) 
establishing a Union list of author ised novel foods was adopt ed. 
(4) Pursuant to Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, the Commission is to decide on the author isation and on 
the placing on the Union mark et of a traditional food from a third countr y. 
(5) On 27 November 2018, the compan y AM Brewer ies (‘the applicant’) submitted a notifi cation to the Commission of 
the intention to place infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a Pierre ex A. Froehner on 
the Union market as a traditional food from a third countr y in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 
2015/2283. The applicant requests for infusion from coffe e leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a to be 
used as such or as an ingredient in other beverages by the general population. 
(6) Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2468, the Commission request ed additional 
information from the applicant as regar ds the validity of the notification. The request ed information was submitt ed 
on 4 June 2019, 21 June 2019, 29 August 2019 and 30 August 2019. 
(7) The data present ed by the applicant demonstrate that infusion from coffe e leaves of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea 
canephor a as such has a histo ry of safe food use in Africa, Asia and Nor th Amer ica. 
(8) Pursuant to Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, on 11 Sept ember 2019, the Commission forwarded the 
valid notifi cation to the Member State s and to the European Food Safety Author ity (‘the Auth ority’). 
(1)OJ L 327, 11.12.2015, p. 1. 
(2)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2468 of 20 December 2017 laying down administrative and scientific requirements 
concer ning traditional foods from third countr ies in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council on novel foods (OJ L 351, 30.12.2017, p. 55). 
(3)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 of 20 December 2017 establishing the Union list of novel foods in accordance 
with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council on novel foods (OJ L 351, 30.12.2017, p. 72). EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 209/10                                                                                                                                           2.7.2020   (9) No duly reasoned safety objections to the placing on the market within the Union of infusion from coffee leav es of 
Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a were submitted to the Commission by the Member States or the Author ity 
within the four-months period laid down in Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. 
(10) On 3 Febr uary 2020, the Author ity published its ‘Technical Repor t on the notification of infusion from coffee leav es 
(Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a Pierre ex A. Froehner) as a traditional food from a third countr y pursuant to 
Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283’ (4). 
(11) In that repor t, the Auth ority note d that the leav es of Coffea arabica contain Epigall ocatec hin gallat e (EGCG) and 
theref ore, the presence of EGCG in the infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a cannot 
be excluded. On that basis, the Author ity established a maximum level of 700 mg of EGCG per litre of the infusion. 
It is theref ore appropr iate to establish maximum levels of 700 mg/L of EGCG in the specifications of the traditional 
food in the Union list of author ised novel foods. 
(12) The Author ity concluded that the available data on compo sition and histor y of use of the infusion from coffee leav es 
of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a do not raise safety concer ns. 
(13) In addition to the infusion from coffe e leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a to be used as such, the 
applicant requeste d the infusion to be used as an ingredient in other beverage s for the general population. The 
applicant has submitte d documente d data demonstrating histor y of safe use in a third countr y in accordance with 
Article 14(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 only for the infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or 
Coffea canephor a as such, while no evidence on the use of the infusion as ingredient in other beverages was 
submitted . The applicant was invit ed to provide clarification, and possibly revision, of the proposed uses of the 
infusion, which correspond to the foods in whic h the infusion is traditionally consumed and for whic h a histo ry of 
safe use should have been submitted . However , the applicant did not chang e the proposed uses and did not provid e 
evidence demonstrating the histor y of safe food use in a third countr y of the infusion as ingredient in other 
beverages . Consequently , in the absence of the required document ed data, the Commission is of view that the 
histo ry of safe food use in a third countr y has been demonstrated by the applicant only for the infusion from coffee 
leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a as such. Theref ore, the notific ation for the author isation of the 
infusion from coffee leaves of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a, as far as it concer ns its use as an ingredient in 
other beverage s, is considered not valid. 
(14) The Commission should theref ore author ise the placing on the market within the Union of infusion from coffee 
leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a as such and update the Union list of novel foods according ly. 
(15) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 should theref ore be amended according ly, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION: 
Article 1 
1. The infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a Pierre ex A. Froehner , as specified in the 
Annex to this Regulation, shall be included in the Union list of author ised novel foods established in Implementing 
Regulation (EU) 2017/2470. 
2. The entr y in the Union list refer red to in paragraph 1 shall include the conditions of use and labelling requirements 
laid down in the Annex to this Regulation. 
Article 2 
The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation. 
(4)EFSA Suppor ting Publication, 2020:EN-1783. EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 2.7.2020                                                                                                                                          L 209/11   Article 3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day followi ng that of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 1 July 2020.  
For the Commission 
The President 
Ursula VON DER LEYEN     EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 209/12                                                                                                                                           2.7.2020   ANNEX 
The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 is amended as follows: 
(1) The followi ng entr y is inser ted in Table 1 (Auth orised novel foods) in alphabetical order: 
‘                                                                
Authorised novel food Conditions under whic h the novel food may be 
used Additional specific labelling requirements Other requirements 
“Infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea 
canephor a Pierre ex A. Froehner 
(Traditional food from a third countr y) Specified food  
categor y Maximum levels The designation of the novel food on the label­
ling of the foodstuffs containing it shall be ‘In­
fusion from coffe e leav es of Coffea arabica and/or 
Coffea canephor a’.”  Herbal infusions    
’ 
(2) The followi ng entr y is inser ted in Table 2 (Specifi cations) in alphabetical order : 
‘                                                                
Authorised Novel Food Specifications 
“Infusion from coffee leav es of Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea 
canephor a Pierre ex A. Froehner 
(Traditional food from a third countr y) Descr iption/Def inition: 
The traditional food consists of an infusion of leav es from Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a Pierre ex A.Froehner 
(family : Rubiaceae). 
The traditional food is prepared by mixing a maximum of 20 g of dried leav es from Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephor a 
Pierre ex A.Froehner with 1 L of hot water . Leaves are removed and the infusion is then subjected to pasteur ization (at least 
71 °C for 15 seconds). 
Composition: 
Visual: Brown green liquid 
Odour and taste: Characte ristic 
Chlorog enic acid (5-CQA): < 100 mg/L 
Caffe ine: < 80 mg/L 
Epigall ocatec hin gallat e (EGCG): < 700 mg/L 
Microbiological criter ia: 
Total plate count: < 500 CFU/g 
Total yeast and mould count: < 100 CFU/g 
Total colif orms: < 100 CFU/g 
Escher ichia coli: Absence in 1 g 
Salmonella: Absence in 25 g 
Hea vy metals: 
Lead (Pb): < 3,0 mg/L 
Arsenic (As): < 2,0 mg/L 
Cadmium (Cd): < 1,0 mg/L 
CFU: Colon y Forming Units”   
’ EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 2.7.2020                                                                                                                                          L 209/13