Japanese Food Regulations

Figure 1. Number of Pesticides Regulated and Official Methods under the Japanese Food Sanitation Law...

The approved color additives appear on positive lists issued by the Food and Drug Administration in the US, the EU, and Japan, but the colorants permitted in each market vary considerably. US and EU regulatory organizations provide provisional and permanent lists of approved color additives. The permanently listed additives are considered safe for use in cosmetic and toiletry products by the regulatory bodies. Provisionally listed color additives are those on which some safety studies are still to be undertaken or their test results are under review. The Japanese regulations include only a permanent list of color additives. 

A. Japanese regulations for labeling of food allergenic ingredients... 

Although there is considerable discrepancy between the regulations of the other countries and the Japanese standards, the regulations of Japan reflect the historical background of provisions of the original Food Sanitation Law and it will take time to get harmonisation to international guidelines. 

In Japan, the Positive List system was implemented on May 29, 2006. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare had established many provisional maximum residue limits (MRLs) in addition to present MRLs, and 586 pesticides were regulated under the Food Sanitation Law [1]. A uniform level of 0.01 ppm is established as the level having no potential to cause damage to human health [2], A rapid and sensitive multiresidue analytical method was required to conduct efficient and effective monitoring surveys of pesticide residues to ensure food safety. 

Macheix J-J, Fleuriet A, Billot J (1990) Fruit phenolics. CRC Press, Boca Raton Margna U (1977) Control at the level of substrate supply an alternative in the regulation of phenylpropanoid accumulation in plant cells. Phytochemistry 16 419-426 McClure JW (1979) The physiology of phenolic cmpounds in plants. In Swain T, Harbone JB, Van Sumere CF (eds) Biochemistry of plant phenolics. Plenum Press, New York, pp 525-556 Nakabayashi T (1968) Studies on tannin of fruits and vegetables. Part 1. Tannin of fruits of rosaceous fruit-trees. J Jpn Soc Food Sci Technol 15 73-78 (in Japanese with English Summary)... 

Shimizu, T. 2003. Health claims on functional foods the Japanese regulations and an international comparison, Nutr Res Rev 16 241-252. 

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