5. Legislation
Food Additives
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 lays down the rules on food additives used in foods. For the purposes of this guidance document, some of the key articles within this Regulation are:
- Article 4 – Requirement for food additives to be authorised before being placed on the market and used in food.
- Article 5 – Requirement for food additives, or any food in which such a food additive is present, to only be placed on the market if the use complies with this Regulation.
- Article 14B – Requirement for FSS/FSA to include content of authorisations in the domestic list.
- Article 24 and Annex V - Additional labelling requirements for certain food colours.
Similar but separate legislation covers flavourings (Regulation (EC) 1334/2008), enzymes (Regulation (EC) 1332/2008) and smoke flavourings (Regulation (EC) 2065/2003).
Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 establishes a common authorisation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings:
- Article 2C - Requires publication of a ‘domestic list’ of regulated products, including authorised additives.
- For Scotland, this can be found in the GB Register of Food Additives Authorisations.
- Guidance on the use of the register is also available.
The Food Additives, Flavourings, Enzymes and Extraction Solvents (Scotland) Regulations 2013 provide for the enforcement in Scotland of Regulation (EC) 2065/2003, Regulation (EC) 1332/2008, Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 and Regulation (EC) 1334/2008.
- Regulation 3 (as read with schedule 1) – Offence to contravene Regulation 1333/2008.
- Regulation 16 - Interpretation of ‘food safety requirements’ for the purposes of section 9 of the Food Safety Act 1990 in so far as it relates to this legislation.
Food Information
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of Food Information to Consumers (FIC) provides the basis for the assurance of a high level of consumer protection in relation to food information and establishes the general principles, requirements and responsibilities governing food information, in particular food labelling. For the relevance of this guidance document, some of the key Articles within this Regulation are:
- Article 15 – Requirement for mandatory food information to be in English.
- Article 18 and Annex VII Part C – Requirement for food additives in a list of ingredients to be designated by their category followed by name or E-number.
The Food Information (Scotland) Regulations 2014 provide for the enforcement in Scotland of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011:
- Regulation 10 – Offence to fail to comply with any FIC provision.