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Food Additives

Colors | Sweeteners | Miscellaneous Additives | Reports | Labeling Requirements | Flavorings

Council Directive 89/107/EEC provides for the establishment of EU harmonized positive lists of a wide range of food additives. All food additives not included in the positive list are prohibited except for those new food additives that are temporarily (for a period of two years) authorized by Member States. Processing aids, flavorings, substances added to foodstuffs as nutrients such as minerals, trace elements, vitamins do not fall under the scope of this directive and continue to be subject to Member States Legislation.

The lists of authorized food additives and their conditions for use are published in three directives.

Sweeteners

European Parliament and Council Directive 94/35/EC on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs: the annex to this directive list maximum usable doses for sweeteners in selected foodstuffs.

Colors

European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC on colors for use in foodstuffs.
Annex I: list of permitted food colors. Only substances listed in this annex may be used doc
Annex II: foodstuffs which may not contain added colors doc
Annex III: foodstuffs to which only certain permitted colors may be added doc
Annex IV: colors permitted for certain uses only doc
Annex V: colors generally permitted doc

- Commission Regulation 884/2007 on emergency measures suspending the use of E 128 Red 2G as food color (July 2007)

 
Miscellaneous additives

European Parliament and Council Directive 95/2/EC, last amended by Directive 2006/52/EC, the so-called miscellaneous additives directive on food additives other than colors and sweeteners.

Annex I: list of food additives permitted for use in foodstuffs (excl. those listed in Annex II) following the "quantum satis"* principle
Annex II: list of foodstuffs in which only a limited number of additives of Annex I may be used
Annex III: list of conditionally permitted preservatives and antioxidants
Annex IV: list of other permitted additives
Annex V: list of permitted carriers and carrier solvents
Annex VI: list of additives permitted in foods for infants and young children

* no maximum level is specified

Reports

bullet UK Proposal on Food Color Additives Exceeds Measures in the Rest of the EU  (GAIN report UK8008 -April 2008)
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bullet Package of proposals for new legislation on food additives, flavorings and enzymes (GAIN report E36113 - August 2006)
bullet Review of food additives and sweeteners legislation (GAIN report E36112 - August 2006)
 

Labeling requirements for additives

See Annex II and Annex III of the general labeling directive.  Regulation 1829/2003 repeals Commission Regulation 50/2000 which provided specific labeling requirements for food and food ingredients containing additives and/or flavorings that have been genetically modified or have been produced from GMO's.

 

Flavorings

In an initial step to harmonize the use of flavorings in the EU, the European Commission compiled a register of all flavoring substances authorized in the different EU member states.  Substances which are subject to restrictive or prohibitive measures in certain member states have been marked.  This register has been updated by Commission Decisions 2004/357/EC , 2005/389/EC and 2006/252/EC.
 
bullet Package of proposals for new legislation on food additives, flavorings and enzymes (GAIN report E36113 - August 2006)

 

 

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