Feed for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTs) authorisation guidance

PARNUTs are feedstuffs for particular nutritional purposes, also known as dietetic feed. It is feed which has a particular nutritional purpose which animals receive for their health. PARNUTs meet the specific nutritional needs of animals whose bodily functions are, or could be, temporarily or irreversibly impaired.

PARNUTs can satisfy a specific nutritional purpose by:

• particular composition
• particular method of production

Feed intended for particular nutritional purposes may only be marketed in Great Britain (GB) if:

• its intended use is included in the list of intended uses
• it meets the essential nutritional characteristics for the respective particular nutritional purpose included in that list

Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2020/354 has established a list of intended uses of feed intended for particular nutritional purposes.

The procedure for updating the list of intended uses may be started by the submission of a request.

New requests

Use our regulated products application service to make a request to update the list in GB by: 

• adding an intended use of a PARNUT 
• adding or changing the conditions associated with an existing particular intended use of a PARNUT 

This is where you will be asked to upload all the documents to support your application, which will form your dossier. There is no fee for the application. 

There is no specific guidance available for changes to PARNUTs categories. Your application should clearly set out the request and include a supporting dossier demonstrating that the specific composition of the feed: 

• fulfils the particular intended nutritional purpose 
• has no adverse effects on animal health, human health, the environment or animal welfare 

Ongoing applications

If you submitted a request for a new PARNUTs category or a change to an existing category to the EU before 1 January 2021 and the consideration of this application has not been completed, you will need to submit your application to us, using our regulated products application service.

How long will my application take? 

The law includes deadlines for key steps in the process. In most cases, applications will take at least a year.  

The quality of the dossier, and the information provided, will significantly affect the time needed for assessment and authorisation. We encourage applicants to follow the guidance and provide all the required information to ensure we can process your request as efficiently as possible.

Getting help

If you have any questions about the authorisation procedure or application requirements, you can contact us at regulatedproducts@food.gov.uk

Make an application

You can now use our online service to make a regulated product application.