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INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE FOR FOOD ADDITIVES

Lynn Insall Conference on Food Additives: Safety in Use and Consumer Concerns Nairobi, 24 June 2014. INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE FOR FOOD ADDITIVES. 50 YEARS OF PROGRESS. Increase in global population Increase in global prosperity Major changes in world trade patterns

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INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE FOR FOOD ADDITIVES

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  1. Lynn Insall Conference on Food Additives: Safety in Use and Consumer Concerns Nairobi, 24 June 2014 INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY LANDSCAPE FOR FOOD ADDITIVES

  2. 50 YEARS OF PROGRESS • Increase in global population • Increase in global prosperity • Major changes in world trade patterns • Major changes in food supply chains • “Global village” • People on the move • More travel, transport and trade

  3. OVERVIEW OF ADDITIVES REGULATION • European Union • USA • China • Codex Alimentarius

  4. REGULATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION • Regulation 1331/2008, adopted December 2008 • Establishes a common authorisation procedure for food additives AND food enzymes and food flavourings • Replaces previous framework legislation, Directive 89/107/EEC, which set out criteria for for authorisation of food additives, definitions, general criteria for use, and labelling requirements

  5. THE EU “GLOBAL” REGULATION • Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008 • Replaces the previous specific Directives on food colours, food sweeteners, and food additives other than colours and sweeteners • Applicable from 20 January 2010 • Previous Directives phased out from 1 June 2013 • Annexes follow food categorisation system

  6. ADDITIVES LEGISLATION IN THE USA • Part of Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) • Food Additives Amendment to FFDCA enacted 1958 • Defines food additives as “safe” or “unsafe”, excluding GRAS substances • Pre-market approval required • Uses food category system

  7. THE SYSTEM IN CHINA • Additives controlled by National Food Safety Standard GB2760-2011 • Lists permitted additives and specifies conditions of use • Uses hierarchical food categorisation system • China committed to establishing integrated Food Safety standards systems by 2015, using Codex standards as basis

  8. CODEX GENERAL STANDARD FOR FOOD ADDITIVES (GSFA) • Adopted as a Codex standard in 1995 – CODEX STAN 192-1995 • Intended to serve as a single authoritative reference point for food additives • CIAA Categorisation System used as basis of allocation of additives to foods • Still a “work in progress”

  9. WHY DO WE NEED ADDITIVES LEGISLATION? • Consumer safety • Prevention of food adulteration and fraud • Provision of consumer information • Avoidance of barriers to trade MAJOR TRADING BLOCKS HAVE ADOPTED A “HORIZONTAL” APPROACH TO REGULATING FOOD ADDITIVES

  10. THE “HORIZONTAL” APPROACH • EU Regulations and Codex GSFA rooted in need to harmonise • “Vertical” commodity legislation and compositional standards not readily adaptable to control of food additives • Need for consumer protection requires monitoring of intakes • Horizontal approach allows for adaptation if changes in safety assessments or consumer intake

  11. COMMON PROVISIONS • Pre-market approval of additives - numbered • The need for a safety assessment • Safety assessments carried out by independent scientific panels – EFSA and JECFA • Definitions • Safety in use – allocation of the ADI • Technological need • Use of additive must not mislead the consumer

  12. CLASSES OF ADDITIVES • All “horizontal” systems recognise the many classes of additives – Colours, Sweeteners, Preservatives, Antioxidants, Emulsifiers, Stabilisers etc. - though in some systems they are treated differently • The use of some of these classes, and of specific additives, can be controversial • Some countries and consumer groups seek to restrict the use of certain additives or additive classes

  13. FOOD CATEGORISATION SYSTEM • All regulatory schemes under discussion use a form of food categorisation system • Key Food Categorisation System developed in early 1990s by CIAA (now FoodDrinkEurope) • Intended to assist in allocation of additives to foods, based on hierarchical system • Not adopted by the European Community in first round of harmonisation • Taken up by Codex Alimentarius in the GSFA

  14. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? • Provides transparent method for use of food additives in “horizontal” system • Facilitates allocation of additives across foods in which they are needed according to ADI • Facilitates enforcement of legislation • Assists in protecting consumer safety by intake reviews

  15. IS THE LEGISLATION FIT FOR PURPOSE? • Consumer safety: all “horizontal” approaches recognise the need for the safety assessment of food additives. Some more up-to-date than others • Trade: differences in national legislation were seen as a barrier to trade in the European Economic Community as far back as the 1960s; Codex became the reference point for technical issues in trade disputes under the WTO's sanitary and phyto-sanitary agreements

  16. INTO THE 21ST. CENTURY • CODEX first to provide on-line database http://www.codexalimentarius.net/gsfaonline/additives/search.html • EU followed suit, but not necessarily reliable https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco_foods/main/?sector=FAD • Need to keep electronic databases updated with any changes to additive authorisations

  17. REQUIREMENTS FOR CHANGE? There are three main requirements in change management: • Money • Time • Goodwill

  18. EVER CLOSER UNION? • Global trade requires a common approach in order to minimise costs, disputes and misunderstandings • Consumer safety must be protected • Laws and standards should recognise differences in additive needs for geographical, climatic and social reasons • Flexibility needed to encourage innovation

  19. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT? • New EU Regulations easier to follow, more adaptable than previous legislation • Programme of scientific re-evaluation will be underway for some years • Any new scientific evidence has to be taken into account • Codex: slow to adapt and under-resourced • Inconsistencies between vertical standards and GSFA need to be resolved

  20. TRANSITION TO THE FUTURE • Improved scientific co-operation • Maintain focus on consumer safety with enhanced approaches to intake assessment • Respect consumer choice via information • Make greater use of technology, e.g. electronic communications and “virtual” meetings • More goodwill

  21. AN INTERNATIONAL APPROACH • Major trading blocks already have similar approaches to horizontal additives legislation • Mutual recognition should apply where safety standards are deemed equivalent • Codex GSFA should maintain its role in dispute resolution under WTO rules • Codex partners should work together to resolve remaining inconsistencies and and keep GSFA up-to-date

  22. FURTHER INFORMATION Essential Guide to Food Additives (4th. Edition) Edited by Mike Saltmarsh RSC Publishing 2013 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION Lynn Insall Milestone Consultancy Services E-mail: milestone129@hotmail.co.uk

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