Wednesday June 30, 2010

EU Establishes Flavor Guidelines

London — New regulations for food flavoring on labels are set to be implemented by January 2011 by The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), affecting all U.S. exports to the EU.

More detailed labeling requirements are also required for natural flavors, with nature identical and artificial flavors being reclassified as “flavoring substances.”

Synergy Flavors, Inc.'s Paulette Lanzoff, technical director, tells Candy & Snack TODAY the new regulations will change the way flavors are labeled in the ingredient declaration and front panel graphics.

“Some of the regulations will be difficult to quantify and enforce,” she says. “For example, to be considered a natural flavor, 95 percent of the product must come from the named food. For an orange flavor that is easy to achieve with orange oil as the base of your formulation, but for other fruits does that mean 95 percent must come from single fold juice or concentrated juice? The cost and flavor profile implications are challenging.”

EFSA has requested tests on about 530 flavoring substances in addition to the 2,800 currently being assessed.

New flavoring substances proposed for foods will have to be processed for risk assessment, and petitioners will have to supply data to EFSA's panel, including identity of source materials, manufacturing process details, specifications, assessment of dietary exposure and toxicological data.