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Mixture of Food Additives
Bangladesh

This section provides the regulatory definition of the food category in scope, or the appropriate food category for the product in scope. Additionally, it provides the food products that belong to this food category along with the definition and specific information on each of these types of food products.

2.1 Category Name & Definition

Category Name

Food

Definition

“Food” means any edible substance, whether processed, partially processed, or unprocessed, which is edible by chewing, sucking, or licking (such as food grains, pulses, fish, meat, milk, eggs, edible oil, fruits, vegetables, etc.) or by drinking (such as-normal water, aerated water, carbonated water, energy drink, etc.) and also includes such other ingredient or raw material that is used during food production and food process as a nutrient for human survival, and for enhancing nutrition and protecting health [1].

“Food” includes all coloring or flavoring matters, spices, additives, preservatives, and antioxidants, which are not components of principal food but are used for the purposes of manufacturing, preservation, or production thereof.

This includes “processing aid”. It is any matter or substance other than apparatus or utensils that is not consumed directly as food but used as a food ingredient during treating or processing a food to fulfill a certain technological purpose or may result in the unintentional but unavoidable presence of residues or derivatives in the final product after processing.

“Food” includes such other substances that are declared as food, for the purpose of this Act [1], by the Government by notification in the official Gazette from time to time but does not include drugs or herbal medicine, narcotics, and cosmetics.

2.2 Product & Definition

Mixture of Food additives (i.e., “Food-additive stuff")

Definition

“Food additives” means a substance, added to food for a special purpose within the limit prescribed by regulation, which is not normally consumed as food, but is used, as a typical ingredient, in food during processing, manufacturing, packaging, and preservation thereof to arrive, directly or indirectly, at an intended usefulness, and impacts the food to keep its quality intact without using any adulterant or other contaminant [1].

A "Mixture of Food Additives" can be considered as “Food-additive stuff” as defined in the S.R.O No. 34/2017 Use of Food Additives Act, 2017 [3].

Similar to the above definition, but particularly means any substance added to the food items, which is not generally taken as food, yet used as an ingredient to add certain characteristics, as for some technical benefits, directly or indirectly, to achieve some expected congeniality, used with the food.

Specifications

The food safety authority adopted the CODEX ALIMENTARIUS prepared by WHO & FAO [2] for determining the specification/limit of each item (e.g., Citric acid, TBHQ, Propylene Glycol, Vegetable oil/soyabean oil) for specific end uses in the food category.

It is mentioned in accordance with S.R.O. No. 34/2017 Use of Food Additives Act, 2017 [3], the standards prescribed in the latest version of the Codex General Standard for Food Additives 192-1995 (GSFA) of Codex Alimentarius will be followed in addition to this.

Bangladesh follows CODEX GSFA and the procedures adopted are defined under the “Harmonization of Bangladesh’s Food Safety Standards with Codex Standards and other international best practices” [4]. The procedures used Codex-GFSA as a guidance document and a base when determining the maximum limits and usage of food additives.

Additional Information

None.