19 Additives in foodstuffs
| (26025)
13489/04
COM(04) 650
| Draft Directive amending Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners and Directive 94/35/EC on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs
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| Legal base | Article 95EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | 11 October 2004
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| Deposited in Parliament | 19 October 2004
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| Department | Food Standards Agency
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 2 November 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
19.1 Council Directive 94/35/EC harmonises the use of sweeteners
for use in foodstuffs by listing permitted sweeteners, the foods
in which they may be used, and the conditions for their use, whilst
Council Directive 95/2/EC harmonises in a similar way food additives
other than colours and sweeteners.
The current proposal
19.2 In this document, the Commission has proposed a number of
amendments to these two Directives as follows:
- salts of nitrite and nitrate are allowed in meat products,
cheese and certain fish products as preservatives, and the proposal
would, in the light of advice from the European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA), reduce their authorised levels and base any such control
in future on the amounts added, rather than (as at present) residual
amounts, which are regarded as being of limited value: however,
there would be a derogation, requested by the UK and supported
by Ireland, maintaining the existing system of control over maximum
residual levels for certain traditional meat products, such as
Wiltshire cured ham, bacon and similar products, because the curing
process involves the addition of a "live brine" where
it would be impossible to control the amounts of nitrite or nitrate
added;
- following an evaluation by the EFSA, which concluded that,
because there was no clear level without an observed adverse effect,
an Acceptable Daily Intake Level could not be established for
two preservatives —
E216 (propyl p-hydroxybenzoate) and E217 (sodium propyl p-hydroxybenzoate)
—
these should therefore be withdrawn;
- an earlier Commission Decision (2004/374/EC)
introduced a temporary suspension of the marketing within the
Community of jelly mini-cups containing gel-forming additives
derived from seaweed or certain gums, because these were considered
to pose a choking risk due to their consistency, shape and form:
this proposal would withdraw on a permanent basis the authorisation
of gelling agents for use in such mini-cups;
- following positive evaluations by the Scientific
Committee on Food (SCF), three new additives would be authorised
(erythritol, 4-Hexylresorcinol and soybean hemicellulose), whilst
a fourth (ethyl cellulose) would be authorised following such
an evaluation by the EFSA;
- the permitted uses of certain authorised food
additives would be extended, namely that of sodium hydrogen carbonate
in sour milk cheese, of sorbates and benzoates in crustaceans,
of silicon dioxide as a carrier in certain colours, and of certain
additives in traditional Hungarian products; and
- in addition to its authorisation as an additive
(see above), erythritol would be authorised as a sweetener under
Directive 94/35/EC: also, although it can have a laxative effect,
the SCF noted that this occurs at higher levels of intake than
seen for other comparable products, and it therefore proposed
that erythritol should be exempt from the labelling rule regarding
laxative effects which would otherwise apply.
The Government's view
19.3 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 2 November
2004, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health
at the Department of Health (Miss Melanie Johnson) says that the
proposal is welcome as it takes account of new scientific technological
developments in food additive usage and ensures the protection
of human health and the interests of consumers. She adds that
the approval of new additives, and of new uses for existing ones,
will enable industry to produce a wider range of products with
no safety implications, whilst the other measures proposed are
welcome on grounds of consumer health and safety.
19.4 The Minister has also enclosed with her Explanatory
Memorandum a Regulatory Impact Assessment, which suggests that
the proposal is unlikely to have a financially adverse impact
on UK industry, given in particular that the derogation permitting
the maximum levels of nitrites and nitrates in traditional bacon
and ham products to be measured at the point of sale meets the
needs of UK producers. Also, so far as the Government is aware,
no UK manufacturer uses E216 and E217 in foods, and the prohibition
on gelling agents in jelly mini-cup sweets (which are not in any
case produced in the UK) is already enshrined in legislation as
a result of the earlier Commission Decision.
Conclusion
19.5 It is not uncommon for Community legislation
in this area to be amended from time to time to reflect technical
and other developments, and, in so far as the measures proposed
here conform to scientific advice, they do not seem to us to require
any further consideration, either individually or collectively.
We are therefore clearing the document, but we think it right
to draw it to the attention of the House.
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