The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is said to have received more than 50 submissions from companies trying to keep goji berries on supermarket shelves.
If evidence is not found to satisfy regulators that they were consumed in Europe before May 1997, they will banned from sale in the EU until they have been formally authorised under the Novel Food Regulation.
The process of authorising novel foods can take up to five years, which would effectively kill off the market, manufacturers say.
David Vines, a director of health food company Rude Health Foods, said: "This legislation was clearly not designed to assess simple fruits that have been safely consumed outside the EU for thousands of years."