Flavouring legislation

VODOZ, C.-A. Flavour Legislation. New Developments and Trends. Internation. Flavours 1975, 219. 

Siegwart Y, Some critical comments on the legislative control of flavouring in food, FlavourFragr/8 87—90, 1993. 

The right choice of raw materials is crucial for creative development (Table 21.1). The final application, the market for which the flavouring will be developed, legislative and ethnic implications, and customer requirements all have to be considered by flavourists when choosing their starting materials. 

Fig. 23.5 Aqueous-organic two-liquid-phase system for microbial production of flavour compounds. Here the formation of 2-phenylethanol from L-phenylalanine is exemplarily shown [120]. The organic solvent used for in situ extraction has to be carefully selected on the basis of multiple criteria, such as biocompatibility, non-flammability and legislative regulations. For a more detailed description of flavour production in two-phase systems, see Chap. 24 by Larroche et al.

In an ideal situation, both water and flavour components removed during concentration should be returned when reproducing the diluted form. This approach would seem to be commercially untenable, yet is included in part of the legislation. Recent guidelines (UK Food Standards Authority) provide an extension of the description of fruit juice from concentrate that enables a more... 

Antioxidants (e.g. BHA, ascorbic acid) Less than 100 ppm, subject to user-country legislation Prevent oxidation, limit flavour and colour deterioration... 

The ingredients are presented in descending order of concentration and listed under their respective categories, where they may be named or referred to by their E-number, if appropriate. Flavourings are, at present, listed as a category and there is no need to name their individual components, but this could change under future EU legislation. 

N Sanders, Food legislation and the scope for increased use of near-critical fluid extraction operations in the food, flavouring and pharmaceutical industries. In Extraction of Natural Products using Near-critical Solvents MB King and TR Bott, Ed., Chapman Hall, London, UK, 1993, pp 34-49. 

Food additives and flavourings in foodstuffs Unlike the chemicals investigated by this research study, these additives and flavourings are intended to be ingested orally. Current EC legislation on these substances requires specific risk assessment and risk management procedures for these substances. 

The Authority will provide scientific advice which will serve as the scientific basis for the preparation of Community legislation in the field falling imder its mandate. In this respect there is a clear separation of the responsibility of the risk assessment function and that of risk management which will remain the responsibility of the Community Institutions, i.e. the European Commission and Parliament and the Council. The Authority will become the point of reference with respect to risk assessment. Its precise role will evolve over time but its role with respect to the authorisation process had become clearer following the publication of a number of recent Commission proposals. In such a proposal on smoke flavourings used or intended for use in or on foods [4], the Commission proposed that dossiers should be submitted directly to the Authority, and within a predetermined period of time the opinion of the Authority should be returned to the Commission which will remain responsible for the development of proposals on food law. The Commission following consultation of Member States in the newly created Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health will ultimately take decisions. 

Decisive political factors such as the creation of free trade zones with single currencies and shared legislative guidelines offer promising prospects also for the flavour industry with its pronounced orientation towards further globalisation [16]. 

The classic procedures mentioned above have their limitations, especially when it comes to encapsulating very volatile and/or reactive flavourings. In order to satisfy this demand other methods of encapsulation have been developed recently. Also, processes from the pharmaceutical industry have been adjusted to the technological and legislative requirements of the flavour industry. 

The legislation of some European countries comprises positive lists for artificial flavouring substances, such as ethyl vanillin. 

After the completion of the safety evaluation of the above mentioned flavour compounds, the current register will be transferred into the European positive list of flavouring substances, comprising natural, nature-identical and artificial molecules. The status will not be indicated in the foreseen list. As a consequence, the currently existing positive lists for artificial compounds on the level of country-specific legislation will then be obsolete. 

The individual raw materials as well as the flavouring ingredients can be treated according to the pertinent legislation. However, the final products must also be microbiologically protected. 

A lot of vertical (product-related) and horizontal rules have been published within food legislation since 1962. In 1988 the Commission decided to concentrate on horizontal rules which up to now deal with labelling, materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs, additives, flavourings, processing aids, pesticide residues, and official control of foodstuffs. 

Rather than adopting the entire list by legislation, it is preferred that each ingredient be formally submitted to the Food Additives Committee for review and addition to the Chinese list of flavour ingredients. It appears that the review procedure is more of a formality, which leads to the development of ingredient specifications prior to inclusion on the Chinese positive list. 

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