Guide · Last updated: October 2026

Is Shilajit legal in Germany? Its novel food status explained

Yes, Shilajit (Mumijo) is not banned in Germany. The EU classes it as not novel when it is sold as or in food supplements. In any other food, Mumijo counts as a novel food and would need an authorisation. Isolated fulvic acid is not authorised as an ingredient of its own, and there is no authorised health claim for Shilajit.

Contents

Shilajit, usually called Mumijo in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, is sold in Germany in pharmacies, drugstores and online shops. Even so, the question of whether it is allowed at all keeps coming up in search engines and AI answers. This article explains what EU law says about Shilajit, what novel food law has to do with it, and how you can tell as a buyer whether an offer is set up properly. It is about Shilajit in general and is not legal advice.

The short version

Question	Answer	Source
May Shilajit be sold in Germany?	Yes, as or in food supplements	EU Novel Food Catalogue, entry Mumijo
Is Shilajit a novel food?	Only in foods other than food supplements	BVL consultation decision, 2020
Is isolated fulvic acid allowed?	No, not authorised as an ingredient of its own	EU Novel Food Catalogue, entry fulvic acid
Is there an authorised health claim?	No	EU Register of health claims
Does the BVL check every product?	No, it only receives the notification	BVL, food supplements FAQ

What novel food law covers

Under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, a novel food is anything that was not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997 and falls into one of the categories of the regulation. Such foods need an authorisation, based on a safety assessment, before they can be sold. If it is unclear whether a substance is novel, the company must consult the authority of the member state where it first intends to sell the product. The results are published in the European Commission's Novel Food Catalogue.

Shilajit's status in the EU catalogue

The BVL completed such a consultation for Mumijo. The decision of 21 August 2020 explicitly names Shilajit and Asphaltum panjabinum as synonyms. The outcome fits in two sentences:

As or in food supplements, Mumijo is not novel.
In any other food it is novel and would need an authorisation.

The reason for this split: no significant use as an ordinary food in the EU before 1997 could be shown. Czechia, however, reported that Mumijo was used there in food supplements before the cut-off date. That is the basis of the catalogue entry, which has applied since 2020.

For you this means: Shilajit resin or capsules sold as a food supplement are legally possible. An energy drink, a bar or gummies sold as an ordinary food containing Mumijo are not, without an authorisation. This works both ways: any dosage form sold as a food supplement, including capsules, drops or gummies, falls under the "not novel" status.

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Fulvic acid: the part that is not allowed

Many offers advertise a high fulvic acid content. Legally, caution is needed here. The EU catalogue lists fulvic acid as a novel food that is not authorised. Since a Lithuanian consultation decision of 31 October 2024, this explicitly also applies to non-isolated fulvic acid in food supplements.

This concerns products that contain fulvic acid as an ingredient of its own, such as fulvic acid drops or concentrates. Mumijo has a separate entry in the catalogue. It contains fulvic acids naturally, but the fulvic acid entries concern fulvic acid as an ingredient of its own. The German consumer organisation Verbraucherzentrale also points out that advertising such as "rich in fulvic acids" is not allowed, because it would be a nutrition claim without authorisation. What fulvic acid is and how it is measured is explained in the article Fulvic acid in Shilajit.

The BVL notification is not an approval

Anyone who intends to place a food supplement on the German market as a manufacturer or importer must notify the BVL under section 5 of the German Food Supplements Regulation (NemV), at the latest when it is first placed on the market, together with a specimen of the label. The notification is made online through the federal portal.

This notification is often misunderstood. The BVL states clearly in its questions and answers on food supplements:

Food supplements are not approved by the authorities.
The notification is not an approval or a permit.
The BVL does not check whether the notified product may be marketed.

The company selling the product is responsible for its safety and correct labelling. It is checked by the food control authorities of the German federal states. A seal or statement such as "checked by the BVL" therefore has no basis.

What may be said about effects

No health claim for Shilajit is authorised in the EU Register of health claims. According to CVUA Stuttgart, claims have been submitted whose assessment at EU level is still pending ("on hold"). Under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, however, foods may only be advertised with authorised health claims. Statements that a food prevents, treats or cures a disease are forbidden for foods in any case.

In 2025, in case C-386/23, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that, as a rule, health claims may not currently be made for plant substances whose assessment is still pending. CVUA Stuttgart objected to unauthorised health claims for 83 percent of the Shilajit samples it examined. Why reputable sellers avoid such promises is covered in the article What do doctors say about Shilajit.

What food control found

In April 2026 the Stuttgart state food laboratory (CVUA Stuttgart) published the results of twelve Shilajit samples tested in 2025. The results show what matters in practice:

Check	Result for 12 samples
Heavy metals	No sample with excessive levels
Mineral oil residues	4 samples above the orientation values, one judged unsafe
Authenticity	3 samples suspected of containing little or no Shilajit
Advertising claims	Unauthorised health claims in 83 percent, all samples objected to as misleading, for example for "lab tested"

Legal therefore does not automatically mean flawless. Regulation (EU) 2023/915 sets maximum levels of lead, cadmium and mercury for food supplements, and every food must be safe under general food law. Which values apply and how to read a lab report is explained in Heavy metals in Shilajit.

Checklist: is an offer set up properly?

Labelled as a food supplement? The label must say "Nahrungsergänzungsmittel" (food supplement) and give a recommended daily amount.
No promises to cure or work? Statements about diseases, potency, hormones or detox are not authorised.
No advertising with "rich in fulvic acids"? According to the Verbraucherzentrale, this claim is not allowed.
No Mumijo in drinks, bars or sweets sold as ordinary food? That would need a novel food authorisation.
Lab values for the batch? Ask for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic with an analysis date. A label such as "lab tested" says little on its own; what matters is which values were tested.
A responsible company in the EU? Its name and address must be on the label.

How to recognise genuine resin is explained in How to spot real Shilajit. For the background of the name Mumijo, see Mumijo.

How we do it at HimalayaFIT

We sell one product: purified Shilajit resin sold as a food supplement in a 20 g glass jar. The recommended amount is 400 mg a day for 50 days, followed by 10 days off. The jar costs 34.00 €. The values for our batch are on the batch datasheet, and you will find the jar in the shop. More articles are in the guide section.

Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shilajit legal in Germany?

Yes, as a food supplement. The EU Novel Food Catalogue lists Mumijo, also called Shilajit, with the status: not novel when used as or in food supplements. The basis is a 2020 decision by the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). For each individual product, the manufacturer or importer remains responsible for making sure it is safe and correctly labelled.

Is Shilajit banned in Germany?

No. Shilajit is not banned in Germany. What is not allowed is something else: Mumijo in ordinary foods such as drinks or sweets without a novel food authorisation, and advertising that promises to cure or prevent disease.

Is Shilajit a novel food?

It depends on how it is used. As or in food supplements, Mumijo is not novel according to the EU catalogue, because it was used in food supplements in the EU before 15 May 1997. In any other food it is novel and would need an authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 before it can be sold.

Is fulvic acid banned in Germany?

As an ingredient of its own, yes: the EU catalogue lists fulvic acid as a novel food that is not authorised, and according to a 2024 consultation decision this also applies to non-isolated fulvic acid in food supplements. Without an authorisation it may not be sold as a food or food supplement. Mumijo itself has a separate catalogue entry. The fulvic acid decisions concern fulvic acid as an ingredient of its own, such as drops or concentrates.

Is a Shilajit product approved by the BVL once it has been notified?

No. Food supplements are not approved by any authority in Germany. Manufacturers or importers must notify the BVL under section 5 of the German Food Supplements Regulation, at the latest when the product is first placed on the market. According to the BVL, this notification is not an approval and not a check of whether the product may be marketed. A statement such as 'checked by the BVL' is therefore misleading.