Food additives, categories

Most bulk food ingredients, eg, flour, fats and oils, and nutritive sweeteners (qv) such as sugar (qv), are excluded from the food additive category. In a few cases, substances that are used in relatively large quantities, eg, dietary fiber (qv) and bulking agents, are included herein because these have been the focus of market and technology developments. 

Council Directive 89/107/EEC, as amended by Directive 94/34/EC ° — This framework directive provides umbrella legislation under which the individual additives directives are developed. It includes a definition of a food additive, exclusions from the scope of the definition, and a list of food additive categories, one of which is colors. Additionally, general criteria for use of food additives are described. ... 

When the key amendments were made to the FFDCA in 1958, it was recognized that some exceptions were needed to the food additive category, such as ingredients previously established as safe and already listed in FDA regulations. Some of the... 

In Europe, the formation of the European Economic Community has created a requirement to bring food additive approvals of the member nations into alignment, so as to eliminate differences in laws that hinder the movement of foodstuffs among these nations. Historically the member countries have differed widely in approaches to food additive approval and their tendency to approve new additives. At the time of this writing, a framework directive for food additives and several specific directives for various categories of additives are nearing completion (3). 

Abbott Laboratories, which has conducted additional toxicity and carcinogenicity studies with cyclamate, a 10 1 mixture of cyclamate—saccharin, and cyclohexylamine, claimed to be unable to confirm the 1969 findings. Abbott then filed a food additive petition for cyclamate in 1973, which was denied by the FDA in 1980. In 1982, the Calorie Control Council and Abbott Laboratories filed a second food additive petition containing the results of additional safety studies (73). That petition was stiU pending as of 1996. Cyclamate is, however, allowed for use in any or all three categories, ie, food, beverage, and tabletop, in about 50 countries. Sweet n Low, known in the United States as a saccharin-based table-top sweetener, contains exclusively cyclamate in Canada. 

Despite the new orientation toward utilization of natural compounds, synthetic colorants are still used as food additives. Synthetic colorants are easy to produce, stable, less expensive, and have better coloring properties than natural colorants. Still, synthetic colorants are considered to belong to concern level III, a category... 

Synthetic colorants are classified by the FDA as certified color additives and are defined as synthetically produced organic molecules that have their purities checked by the FDA. " A second category, colorants exempt from certification, includes naturally derived (animal, vegetal, mineral) compounds or their synthetic duplicates. Table 7.3.2 presents a summary of synthetic colorants and their utilization as food additives. 

The commercial samples of pectins mainly used as food additives represent modified forms of the natural polymers due to the conditions of extraction. Nevertheless, it is usually recognized two categories of pectins the high methoxyl pectins (HM) with a degree of methylation DM>50% forming gels at low pH in presence of saccharose to reduce the water activity and the low methoxyl pectins (LM with DM<50%) forming gel in presence of calcium [4]. 

Direct food additives, 12 29, 34 categories of, 22 30 function of, 22 30 Direct formed polyimides, 20 284 Direct fuel cells, 22 221 Direct-gap semiconductors, 14 837 ... 

Generally food additives that are used in the manufacture of food products must be identified as prescribed in Directive 2000/13/EC,15 (formerly 79/112/EEC, as amended). The correct category name, representing the function of the additive in the food, must be stated, followed by the specific name or E number of the additive or additives present. If an additive performs more than one function, the category that represents its principal function in that food must be named. The list of category names is provided in Table 2.5. 

In the latter Directive, except for antioxidants and preservatives, individual uses are not listed in either the basic Directive or in the Directives on purity criteria (specifications). In the EU, the functional use of the main additives permitted for use in processed foods are described in Directive 89/107/EC. There are 23 listed which are shown in Table 11.1. In this chapter we are concerned with 17 categories listed in the Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners (these are indicated by an asterisk in Table 11.1). 

EU categories of food additives JECFA functional uses (includes)... 

The Joint FAOAVHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) includes Functional Use in the specifications published in Food and Nutrition Paper 52 and its Addenda. JECFA includes an indication of the functional use or uses, as part of its specifications of purity of additives. JECFA has developed these as part of the description of the additive, and although JECFA provides advice on specifications to the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants, the uses quoted in those specifications are not necessarily the same as the functions given for the same substance in the Codex INS system. Frequently more than one use is listed and these uses often refer to countries outside the EU, and may not include the reason for use listed by the EU. The various categories, uses or classes of additive used by the EU, INS and JECFA are listed in Table 11.2. With minor exceptions, the JECFA functional uses marked with an asterisk are generally regarded as processing aids and not additives and therefore outside the scope of this volume. 

Food additives in the EU are regulated by a Framework Directive 89/107, which among other things defines food additives and processing aids (to which the Directive does not apply). Annex I lists the categories referred to above. (For reasons which are not obvious, these are not listed in any recognizable order ). In annex II, the very important three legs on which food additives stand are listed ... 

The standards and limits adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are intended for formal acceptance by governments in accordance with its general principles. Codex Alimentarius permits only those antioxidants which have been evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) for use in foods. Antioxidants may be used only in foods standardised by Codex. The antioxidant provisions of Codex Commodity Standards are included in and superseded by the provision of this Standard. Food categories or individual foods where the use of additives are not allowed or are restricted are defined by this Standard. The primary objective of establishing permitted levels of use of antioxidants in various food groups is to ensure that the intake does not exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI). 

Chemicals are added to food for (i) their preservation, (ii) enhancing their appeal, and (iii) adding nutritive value in them. Main categories of food additives are as follows ... 

The data required for the risk assessment in relation to human health can be categorized as data on the identity of the substance, its physico-chemical and toxicological properties, and on exposure. The minimum data set required for a risk assessment depends on the chemical use category (industrial chemical, pesticide, biocide, food additive, food contact material, etc.), the regulation involved, and the goal of the risk assessment. This chapter will focus on the data used in the hazard assessment. 

Often, the output of the hazard (effects) assessment (e.g., the NOAEL) leads directly to the establishment of a regulatory standard, for example the derivation of an acceptable or tolerable daily intake (ADI/TDI) (Section 5.12) for a chemical in relation to a specific use category such as, e.g., pesticide, biocide, food additive, food contact material, etc. 

In the United States, food additives are classified into two categories ... 

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