Laws, regulations and standards related to novel food management carried out by countries and regions such as China, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were collected and summarized. The similarities and differences on definitions, scopes and categories of novel food were compared and analyzed. Definitions, scopes and categories of novel food defined by different countries and regions and the application of related documents which support the novel food management were studied. The definition of ‘traditional food’ or ‘history of food use’, and the categorization of novel food were compared and discussed in order to provide suggestions for the revision of novel food regulations and improvement of novel food management and standardization.