Food Additives

Codex Committee on Food Additives (Host Government — China)

The Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) establishes and endorses permitted maximum levels for individual food additives. The CCFA prepares priority lists of food additives for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives as well as assigning functional classes to individual food additives.

The committee also recommends specifications of identity and purity for food additives for adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and considers methods of analysis for the determination of additives in food.

Establishment of the Committee

The 29th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted the terms of reference proposed for the CCFA, thereby deciding to replace the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) with the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) and the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF). The Commission agreed that each Committee should review its terms of reference at its first session.

Existing Codex Standards

Standards relating to food additives* that have been endorsed and adopted into the international food code:

  • General Standard for the Labelling of Food Additives when sold as such
  • General Standard for Food Additives
  • General Principles for the Use of Food Additives in Food
  • List of Codex Advisory Specifications for Food Additives
  • Guidelines for Simple Evaluation of Food Additive Intake
  • Class Names and the International Numbering System for Food Additives

*This is an indicative list only. For a full list of standards approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, please consult its Official List of Standards.

Outcomes of the 34th Codex Alimentarius Commission

The 34th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission:

  • Adopted at Step 8 the Food Additive Provisions of the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA)
  • Adopted at Step 5/8 the Food Additive Provisions of the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA) with an amendment
  • Adopted at Step 5/8 the Revision of the Food Category System of the GSFA (food categories 05.1, 05.2 and 05.4)
  • Adopted at Step 5/8 the Amendments to the International Numbering System for Food Additives
  • Adopted at Step 5/8 the Specifications for the Identity and Purity of Food Additives
  • Adopted the Amendments to Food Additive Provisions for Antioxidants and Preservatives of Food Category 04.1.2.2 “dried fruits” of the GSFA (with amendment)
  • Adopted the Revision of Section 4 “Carry–over of Food Additives” into food of the Preamble to the GSFA
  • Adopted the Amendment to “Explanatory notes on the lay–out of the INS” Section 1 of the Class Names and International Numbering System for Food Additives (CAC/GL 36–1989)
  • Adopted at Step 5 the Draft Revision of the Standard for Food Grade Salt (CODEX STAN 150-1985)
  • Revoked Food Additive Provisions of the GSFA (REP11/FA, paras 83 and 88, Appendix IV)
  • Discontinued work on the Draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the GSFA (except for provision of carotenoids in food category 02.1.2 vegetable oils and fats)

Last Meeting

The 43rd Session of the Committee met in Xiamen, China from 14—18 March 2011.

Matters for Adoption by the 34th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission

The Committee forwarded:

  • Draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA), for adoption at Steps 8 and 5/8 respectively (para. 75 and Appendix III);
  • Proposed draft revision of the Food Category System of the GSFA (food categories 5.1, 5.3 and 5.4) (N07—2010) for adoption at Step 5/8 (para. 102 and Appendix VIII);
  • Proposed draft amendments to the International Numbering System for Food Additives, for adoption at Step 5/8 (para. 147 and Appendix  XII); and
  • Proposed draft Specifications for the Identity and Purity of Food Additives, for adoption at Step 5/8 (para. 153 and Appendix XIII).
Proposed draft revision of the Standard for Food Grade Salt (CODEX STAN 150—1985) (N08—2010), for adoption at Step 5 (para. 136 and Appendix XI).

Other Matters for adoption

The Committee forwarded:

  • Amendments to food additives provisions for antioxidants and preservatives of food category 04.1.2.2 “dried fruits” of the GSFA, for adoption (para. 25);
  • Amendment to Section 4 “Carry–over of Food Additives” of the Preamble of the GSFA, for adoption (para. 121 and Appendix IX); and
  • Amendment to “Explanatory notes on the lay–out of the INS” Section 1 of the Class Names and International Numbering System for Food Additives for adoption (CAC/GL 36—1989) (para. 148).

Codex Standard and Related Texts for revocation

The Committee agreed to request the 34th session of the Commission to revoke:

  • Food additive provisions of the GSFA (paras 75, 83 and 88 and Appendix IV).

Other Matters for information by the 34th Session of the Commission

The Committee agreed:

  • That there was no need to revise its risk analysis principles as to their applicability to animal feed and that Activity 2.2 of the Strategic Plan was completed (paras 14—15);
  • To discontinue work on a number of draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the GSFA (paras 75 and 83 and Appendix V);
  • To continue work on a decision–tree approach for the alignment of the food additives provisions in commodity standards and the GSFA and prepare a proposal for the revision of the food additive provisions of the five standards for processed meat (para. 49).

Matters Referred to Codex Committees and Task Forces

All active commodity committees

  • The Committee agreed to refer the food additive provisions, forwarded to the 34th Session of the Commission for adoption, to the appropriate active commodity committee for information and comments on their applicability to the relevant commodity standards (para. 70).

Committee on General Principles (CCGP)

  • The Committee agreed that there was no need to revise its risk analysis principles and that Activity 2.2 of the Strategic Plan was completed and agreed that separate risk analysis principles for the CCFA and the CCCF were useful; it further concluded that there was no need to revise the definition of “hazard” (paras 14—16).

Committee on Processed Fruits and vegetables (CCPFV)

  • The Committee invited the CCPFV to consider the use of other food additives in the products covered by the Standard for Canned Bamboo Shoot and the Annex on Certain Mushrooms (paras 30—31).

FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for Asia (CCASIA)

  • The Committee invited CCASIA to consider the use of other food additives in the products covered by the regional standards for Chili Sauce and for Fermented Soybean Paste (paras 37—38).

Committee on Nutrition and Food for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU)

  • The CCFA agreed with the two main recommendations of document CX/FA 11/43/5 regarding the three general questions of CCNFSDU on use of food additives in baby food and their evaluation by JECFA and to forward the document to the CCNFSDU for consideration (paras 43—45);
  • The CCFA agreed to request the CCNFSDU to clarify the applicability of the carry–over principles to the standards falling in food categories 13.1 and 13.2 of the GSFA (para. 125).

Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS)

  • The CCFA agreed to forward the section on method of analysis of the proposed draft revision of the Standard for Food Grade Salt (CODEX STAN 150—1985) (paras 135—136 and Appendix XI).

Next Meeting

The 44th Session of the Committee has been tentatively scheduled to take place in Hangzhou, China from 12—16 March 2012.

Download the agenda for this meeting

Last reviewed:
07 Nov 2011
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