3. Compositional Aspects

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General Foods
United Kingdom (UK)

This section provides the compositional requirements for the food category and/or food products in scope and information on permitted nutrients, ingredients, and additives.

3.1 Composition Requirements

Refer to Section 3.1 of specific product Guidebooks for product-specific requirements.

3.2 Raw Material Requirements

Refer to Section 3.2 of specific product Guidebooks for product-specific requirements.

3.3 Fortification

Not available.

3.4 Other Permitted Ingredients

Novel Food is defined in Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 [1] as food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before 15 May 1997, when the first Regulation on novel food came into force. Following a pre-market authorization, Novel food ingredients are authorized to be used in food on the EU market but may be subject to specific conditions of use.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/247 [2] has established the Union list of authorized novel foods, it is a positive list containing all authorized novel foods which can be used as food ingredients for the European Union market.

The Novel Food Catalogue [3] lists products of animal and plant origin and other substances subject to the Novel Food Regulation. It is a non-exhaustive list and serves as an orientation on whether a product will need authorization under the Novel Food Regulation. EU countries may restrict the marketing of a product through specific legislation.

3.5 Permitted Additives

The list of authorized food additives is harmonized in the EU under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 [4], it is a positive list listing their conditions of use (maximal level). Therefore only the additives listed in this Union list are authorized in food sold in the EU, and the ones not listed are not authorized to be used in food e.g. E171. It also applies to imported food. An official online database is available for easy search [5]. Food additives must comply with their individual specification defined in Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 [6].

3.6 Permitted Flavors and Colors

Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 [7] lays down general requirements for the safe use of flavorings and provides definitions for different types of flavorings. Under this regulation, the EU Commission has established the union list [5] of flavorings, it contains an EU list of flavoring substances which are authorized to be used in food. The food industry can only use flavoring substances that are on the EU list. It applies to imported food to the EU.

There is an EU-positive list of smoke flavorings and smoke flavoring substances. Only the substances listed can be used in food sold in the EU [8].

3.7 Permitted Processing Aids

Processing aids are defined in Article 3.2 (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives [4] as any substance which:

is not consumed as a food by itself;
is intentionally used in the processing of raw materials, foods, or their ingredients, to fulfill a certain technological purpose during treatment or processing; and
may result in the unintentional but technically unavoidable presence in the final product of residues of the substance or its derivatives provided they do not present any health risk and do not have any technological effect on the final product;

However, processing aids, including filtration aids and release agents, are excluded from the scope of Commission Regulation 1333/2008 unless they are used as food additives.

There is no specific European legislation regarding processing aids except for extraction solvents and enzyme preparations.

3.8 Additional Notes

Extraction solvent

There is a positive list of extraction solvents authorized in food describing their Conditions of use and Maximum residue limits in the extracted foodstuff or food ingredient [9].

GMO

Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 [8,9] defines the rules for genetically modified food and feed in the EU. Only the EU-authorized GMOs in food can be used as food ingredients for food sold on the EU market.

A list of authorized GMOs that can be used as ingredients in food sold in the EU is available [10].

Food enzyme

Regulation (EC) No 1332/2008 [11] on food enzymes lays down rules for placing on the market and using food enzymes in the EU. Only food enzymes approved in the EU may be sold as such, and/or may be used to produce food that is sold in the EU. This also includes food enzymes used to produce food and food ingredients (including flavorings) outside of the EU, and subsequently imported into the EU.

3.9 References

1. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down general principles and requirements of the food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2002/178/introduction

2. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/247

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2017/2470/oj

3. Novel Food Catalogue

https://food.ec.europa.eu/safety/novel-food/novel-food-catalogue_en

4. Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/1333/oj

5. Additive database
https://ec.europa.eu/food/food-feed-portal/screen/food-additives/search

6. Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 of 9 March 2012 laying down specifications for food additives

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/231/oj

7. Regulation 1334/2008 on flavourings.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/1334/oj

8. Regulation (EU) No 1321/2013 on smoke flavourings

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2013/1321/oj