
controversy, and one of the challenges to inter-
national organizations such as the Codex Alimen-
tarius Commission (Codex) is to try and achieve
harmonization in the use of food additives through-
out the world. Codex is an organization, set up under
the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion (FAO) and the World Health Organization
(WHO), which is charged with developing a food
code to be used on a truly international basis.
Definition of a Food Additive
0004 The definition of a food additive is, by necessity,
closely linked to a definition of food. Unfortunately,
there is no agreement between the food laws of
a number of the developed countries on the actual
definition of food.
0005 In 1966, in the early days of the Codex, there was
an attempt to define food, as follows:
0006 Food means any substance, whether processed, semi-
processed or raw, which is intended for human con-
sumption and includes drink, chewing gum, and any
substance which has been used in the manufacture, prep-
aration or treatment of food, but does not include
cosmetics or tobacco or substances used only as drugs.
0007 This definition can be found in many modified forms
in the legislation of different countries. Even though
the European Union (EU) has been developing its
harmonized food legislation since the mid-1960s, it
has not yet been able to obtain agreement between its
member states on the precise definition of ‘food’ or
‘foodstuff,’ even though both terms are used exten-
sively in EU legislation. It is likely that an agreed
definition will not be dissimilar to that of Codex.
0008 The Codex defines a food additive as:
0009 Any substance not normally consumed as a food by itself
and not normally used as a typical ingredient of the food,
whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional
addition of which to food for a technological (including
organoleptic) purpose in the manufacture, processing,
preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport
or holding of such food results, or may reasonably be
expected to result (directly or indirectly) in it or its
by-products becoming a component of or otherwise
affecting the characteristics of such food. The term
does not include contaminants or substances added to
food for maintaining or improving nutritional qualities.
0010 In the legislation of the EU, the definition of a food
additive is contained in European Council Directive
89/107/EEC. This definition is similar to the Codex
definition and is given as:
0011 For the purpose of this directive ‘Food Additive’ means
any substance not normally consumed as a food itself
and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of
food whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional
addition of which to food for a technological purpose in
the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment,
packaging, transport or storage of such food results, or
may be reasonably expected to result, in its by-products
becoming directly or indirectly a component of such
foods.
0012The directive specifically excludes:
1.
0013processing aids;
2.
0014substances used in the protection of plants and
plant products in conformity with Community
rules relating to plant health;
3.
0015flavorings for use in foodstuffs, falling within the
scope of Council Directive 88/388/EEC;
4.
0016substances added to foodstuffs as nutrients (e.g.,
minerals, trace minerals, or vitamins).
Extraction solvents are also not considered to be food
additives in the EU and are subject to specific legisla-
tion on both their use and residual levels.
0017A processing aid is further defined in European law
as:
0018any substance not consumed as a food ingredient by
itself, intentionally used in the processing of raw mater-
ials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfill a certain techno-
logical purpose during treatment or processing and
which may result in the unintentional but technically
unavoidable presence of residues of the substance or its
derivatives in the final product, provided that these resi-
dues do not present any health risk and do not have any
technological effects on the finished product.
0019In European law one of the key differences between a
food additive and a processing aid is that the latter
must not have any technological effect in the finished
product. For example, residues of a mold-release
agent for a confectionery product are unlikely to
have a technological effect on the final product,
whereas an antioxidant or preservative added to pro-
tect ingredients during processing could still exert a
technological function if carried over into the finished
product. The former would be considered a process-
ing aid whilst the latter could be considered a techno-
logical additive.
0020In the USA, the Food Additives Amendment 1958
to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act con-
tains a more complex definition:
0021The term food additive means any substance the
intended use of which results or may reasonably be
expected to result, directly or indirectly, in its becoming
a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of
any food (including any substance intended for use in
producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, prepar-
ing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food,
and including any source of radiation intended for any
such use), if such substance is not generally recognized,
3502 LEGISLATION/Additives