Notice of Modification to the List of 
Permitted Food Enzymes  to Enable  the 
Use of Glutaminase from Bacillus 
licheniformis  SJ13263 in Various Foods  
 
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food 
Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0174 
October  4, 2021 
 Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Food Enzymes  to Enable  the Use of Glutaminase from Bacillus l icheniformis  SJ13263  
in Various Foods – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0174| 2 
 Summary  
Food additives are regulated in Canada under Marketing Authorizations  (MAs) issued by the Minister of 
Health and the Food and Drug Regulations  (Regulations) .  Approved food additives and their permitted 
conditions of use are set out in the Lists of Permitted Food Additives  that are incorporated by reference in 
the MAs and published on the Canada.ca website. A petitioner can request that Health Canada approve a 
new additive or a new condition of use for an already approved food additive by filing a fo od additive 
submission with the Department's Food Directorate. Health Canada uses this premarket approval process to 
determine whether the scientific data support the safety of food additives when used under specified 
conditions in foods sold in Canada.  
Health Canada’s Food Directorate received a food additive submission seeking approval for the use of 
glutaminase from Bacillus licheniformis  SJ13263  as a food enzyme in bread; dairy -based flavouring 
preparation; flour; hydrolyzed animal, milk and vegetable p rotein; pasta; unstandardized bakery products; 
whole wheat flour; and yeast extract. This  food enzyme is intended to be used at a  maximum  level consistent 
with Good Manufacturing Practice1. The petitioner indicated that the use of glutaminase in baking and  other 
cereal -based processes serves to produce a dough that is more extensible2 and easier to handle. In the 
manufacture of hydrolyzed animal, milk and vegetable protein, dairy -based flavouring preparations and yeast 
extract, the petitioner explained that  glutaminase serves to increase levels of glutamate in order to enhance 
flavour (i.e. enhance umami flavor, similar to the flavor achieved by using monosodium glutamate (MSG)) in 
the final foods to which these ingredients are added.  
Glutaminase from anoth er microbial source is already permitted for use in certain foods requested by the 
petitioner. Although B. licheniformis  and numerous strains of this bacterium are permitted sources for 
several food enzymes other than glutaminase, the specific strain of B. licheniformis , SJ13263,  is a new source 
for a food enzyme in Canada.  
The results of the Food Directorate’s evaluation of available scie ntific data support the safety of glutaminase 
from B. licheniformis  SJ13263 when used as set out in the table below . Therefore, Health Canada has 
modified the  List of Permitted Food Enzymes  to enable  the requested uses of glutaminase fr om B. 
licheniformis  SJ13263 by adding the entry shown below to the L ist.  
 
Modification to the List of Permitted Food Enzymes  
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted 
Source  Column 3  
Permitted in or Upon  Column 4  
Maximum Level of Use and 
Other Conditions  
G.5 Glutaminase  Bacillus 
licheniformis  
SJ13263  (1) 
Bread; Flour; Whole 
wheat flour  (1) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
(2) 
Dairy -based flavouring  (2) 
Good Manufacturing  Practice  
                                                             
1 See the definition of Good Manufacturing Practice in the Marketing Authorization for Food Additives That May Be 
Used as Food Enzymes . 
2 The petitioner has defined the “extensibility” as the degree to which a dough can be stretched without tearing.  Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Food Enzymes  to Enable  the Use of Glutaminase from Bacillus l icheniformis  SJ13263  
in Various Foods – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0174| 3 
 Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted 
Source  Column 3  
Permitted in or Upon  Column 4  
Maximum Level of Use and 
Other Conditions  
preparations  
(3) 
Hydrolyzed animal, milk 
and vegetable protein  (3) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
(4) 
Pasta  (4) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
(5) 
Unstandardized bakery 
products  (5) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
(6) 
Yeast extract  (6) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
Rationale  
Health Canada’s Food Directorat e completed a premarket safety assessment of glutaminase from B. 
licheniformis  SJ13263  for use as  a food enzyme in the foods of interest to the petitioner . The Department  
conclud ed that information related to allergenicity, chemistry, microbiology, molecul ar biology, and 
toxicology supports the safety of glutaminase from B. licheniformis  SJ13263  for its requested uses , and 
technical information indicates the enzyme is effective for its intended purposes . Therefore, the Department 
has enabled the requested u ses of glutaminase from B. licheniformis  SJ13263  by adding to the  List of 
Permitted Food Enzymes  the new entr y shown in  the above table.  
Other Relevant Information  
Glutaminase will increase the free glutamic acid content of the foods it is added to. When glutamic acid or its 
salts (e.g. MSG) or hydrolyzed plant protein are added to a prepackaged food, they must be declared  in the 
list of ingredients on the food label, even if they are a component of a preparation or mixture such as 
flavouring preparation or seasoning mixture that is usually exempt from component declaration  (this 
requirement is set out in section B.01.009 of the  Regulations) . This labeling is not required for other food 
ingredients or foods that contain free glutamate.  
 
Food additives such as glutaminase from B. licheniformis  SJ13263  are required to meet food -grade 
specifications set out in Part B of the Regulations or those set out in the  most recent  edition of the  Food 
Chemicals Codex  or the Combined Compendium of Food Additive Specifications . The Food Chemicals Codex  is 
a compendium of standards for purity and identity for food ingredients, including food additives, published 
by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention. Specifications in the  Combined Compendium of Food 
Additive Specifications  and its associated Gene ral Specifications and Considerations for Enzyme Preparations  
are prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) , both of which are  
published by the Food and Agriculture Orga nization of the United Nations.  Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Food Enzymes  to Enable  the Use of Glutaminase from Bacillus l icheniformis  SJ13263  
in Various Foods – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0174| 4 
 Implementation and Enfor cement  
The above modification came into force October  4, 2021, the day it was published in  the List of Permitted 
Food En zymes .  
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act and its 
associated regulations with respect to foods.   
Contact Information  
Health Canada's Food Directorate is committed to reviewing new scientific information on the safety in use of 
any permitted  food additive, including  glutaminase from B. licheniformis  SJ13263 .  Anyone wishing to submit 
an inquiry or new scienti fic information on the use of this additive  may do so in writing, by regular mail or 
electronically. If you wish to contact the Food Directorate electro nically, please use the words " glutaminase  
(NOM -0174)" in the subject line of your e -mail.  
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate  
251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway  
Tunney’s Pasture, PL: 2202C  
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9  
E-mail: hc.bcs -bipc.sc@canada.ca