16 Controls on the use of flavourings
in foodstuffs
| (27752)
12182/06
COM(06) 427
+ ADDS 1-2
| Draft Regulation on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties for use in and on foods and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89, Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91, Regulation (EC) No 2232/96 and Directive 2000/13/EC
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| Legal base | Article 95EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | 28 July 2006
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| Deposited in Parliament | 22 August 2006
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| Department | Food Standards Agency
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 29 August 2006
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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 | Not cleared; further information awaited
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Background
16.1 Community legislation on the use of flavourings in food and
on the materials used for their production was first introduced
in Council Directive 88/388/EEC.[39]
This provides definitions for flavourings, flavouring substances,
flavouring preparations, process flavouring and smoke flavouring;
restricts the addition and presence of certain substances in flavourings
and/or foods to which flavourings have been added; and provides
rules for the labelling of flavourings sold to food manufacturers
or direct to consumers. According to the Commission, the Directive
now needs to be substantially amended to clarify its scope, and
to take into account relevant technological and scientific developments
as well as the adoption of more recent Community legislation laying
down the general principles and requirements of food law.
The current proposal
16.2 The Commission has therefore put forward this document, which
would repeal the earlier legislation in this area (including Council
Directive 88/388/EEC), and:
- introduce general criteria and safety requirements for the
use of flavourings and food ingredients with flavouring properties
in and on foods;
- establish Community procedures for the evaluation
by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of certain flavourings,
food ingredients with flavouring properties, their source materials,
and for the authorisation of their use in or on foods;
- introduce provisions for the labelling of flavourings
sold as such to food manufacturers or to the final consumer, and
for the liability of food business operators as regards these
products;
- establish maximum levels in particular foods
for certain undesirable substances which are present in flavourings
and food ingredients with flavouring properties;
- refine existing definitions of flavourings covered
under Directive 88/388/EEC to allow the inclusion of those produced
by new technologies, and introduce two new categories;
- specify the traditional food preparation processes
and appropriate physical processes by which natural flavouring
substances and flavouring preparations are obtained; and
- require new food flavourings which consist of,
contain, or are produced from a genetically modified organism
(GMO) to first be evaluated under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003
on GM food and feed.
16.3 Apart from this last provision on GMOs, the
document would make three main changes as compared with the position
at present. First, although the scope of Council Directive
88/388/EEC is restricted to flavourings, the provision establishing
maximum levels for undesirable substances is interpreted differently
by the Member States (some applying it to foods which contain
only flavourings, whilst others apply it to foods which contain
both flavourings and food ingredients with flavouring properties):
in future, this ambiguity would be avoided.
16.4 Secondly, Council Directive 88/388/EEC defines
three categories of flavouring substances — "natural"
(those obtained by appropriate physical processes from material
of vegetable animal origin), "natural identical" (those
chemically synthesized but otherwise identical to substances produced
from natural material), and "artificial" (those chemically
synthesized, but not chemically identical to substances obtained
naturally). Since the term "natural identical" is confusing
for consumers, the proposal would restrict use of the description
"natural" to flavourings which are exclusively obtained
from natural sources. It would also introduce a new category ("Other
flavourings").
16.5 Thirdly, the labelling provisions would be
amended to specify more clearly the source of preparations
which may be described as "natural".
The Government's view
16.6 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 29 August 2006,
the Minister of State for Public Health at the Department of Health
(Caroline Flint) says that the proposal is welcome in that it
would appear to benefit UK stakeholders, and that it will maintain
(and, in some cases, increase) consumer protection, help to provide
a level playing field and allow UK manufacturers to benefit from
increased trade as a result of harmonisation. The Explanatory
Memorandum is accompanied by a short partial Regulatory Impact
Assessment, which has been used as the basis for the Government's
consultation exercise on the proposal, and which will be updated
in the light of comments on it, including those from industry
on the potential costs.
Conclusion
16.7 Though this is a complex and highly technical
area, which makes it difficult to identify the precise implications
of what is proposed, much of this document essentially updates
and clarifies the existing Community legislation on flavourings,
and, in general, it is supported by the Government and (we understand)
the industry. That said, we think it right at this stage simply
to report the proposal to the House, and to consider it further
when the results of the Government's consultation exercise are
known.
39 Council Directive 88/388/EEC. OJ No. L184, 15.7.88,
p.61. Back
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