Food Additives

Registration of food additives, novel food and food safety

Food additives are substances added intentionally to foodstuffs to perform certain  technological functions, for example to colour, to sweeten or to preserve. Food additives are defined in Community legislation as "any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose results in it or its by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods".

Food additives are authorised on EU level for all the Member States, as well as for Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. On 16 December 2008, the regulations of the Package on Food Improvement Agents where adopted. This includes regulations on food additives (Regulation (EC) 1333/2008), food enzymes and flavourings (Regulation (EC) 1332/2008) and food ingredients with flavouring properties (Regulation (EC) 1334/2008) as well as an additional fourth regulation establishing a common authorisation procedure for additives, enzymes and flavourings (Regulation (EC) 1331/2008).

Authorisation of novel foods and food ingredients is harmonised in the European Union (EU) by Regulation (EC) 258/97. Before they are placed on the market, a safety assessment carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) must demonstrate that these products do not pose any risk to human health or the environment. The proof of this should be delivered in an application dossier. The establishment of application dossiers is the core business of SCC!

Basic legislation in regard to food safety is the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) 187/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002, laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety). SCC has supported industrial clients in the areas of food, food contact material, laboratory and food safety in general in the establishment and management of quality systems (including HACCP).