Notice of Modification to the List of 
Permitted Preservatives  to Extend  the 
Use of Potassium Sorbate to Oyster -
Flavoured S auce s  
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food 
Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0189 
August 26 , 2022 
 Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Preservatives  to Extend the Use of Potassium Sorbate to Oyster -Flavoured Sauce s – 
Reference Number: NOM/ADM -01892 
 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 Per mitted 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 , a new source  or a new condition of use for an already approved food additive by filing a food 
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 
potassium sorbate , the potassium salt of sorbic acid, as a Class 2 preservative  at a maximum level of 1,000 
parts per million (ppm)  in oyster -flavoured sauce.  As o yster -flavoured sauce is considered  an unstandardized 
fish product in Canada, and most Class 2 and Class 3 preservatives are not permitted in unstandardized 
preparations of fish and meat (Division 21), potassium sorbate was thus not already permitted in such sauce . 
Potassium sorbate is permitted for use in Canada as a Class 2 and Class 3 preservative in a variety of foods 
including the broad category of unstandardized foods, with the exception of unstandardized preparations of 
meat an d meat -by-product s (Division 14 ), fish and meat ( Division 21 ) and poultry meat and poultry meat by -
product s (Division 22 ), at a maximum level of 1,000 ppm.  
The Food Directorate recently  permitte d the use of benzoic acid and its salts as Class 2 preservatives in 
oyster -flavoured sauce1 based on the fact that there was  no scientific evidence to soundly rationalize the 
establishment of the  above mentioned  exceptions  for Class 2 preservatives  in certain types of unstandardized 
foods . Therefore, Health Canada has modified  Part 2 of  the List of Permitted Preservatives  to extend the use 
of potassium sorbate  by adding the entry shown below to the list  (bold font not used in the List) . 
 
Modification to Part 2 of the List of Permitted Preservatives  
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted in  or Upon  Column 3  
Maximum Level of Use and Other 
Conditions  
P.4 Potassium Sorbate  (2) 
Unstandardized oyster -flavoured 
sauce s (2) 
1,000 p.p.m., calculated as sorbic 
acid 
Rationale  
The department had previously concluded that  there was no scientific evidence to soundly rationalize the 
establishment of exceptions for the use of  benzoic acid and its salts2 in certain types of  unstandardized fish, 
                                                             
1 See the Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Preservatives  to Enable the Use of Benzoic Acid and its 
Salts in Oyster Flavoured Sauce – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0147  published on 2020 -05-05. 
2 Idem . Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Preservatives  to Extend the Use of Potassium Sorbate to Oyster -Flavoured Sauce s – 
Reference Number: NOM/ADM -01893 
 meat and poultry products . Therefore, the Department has extended  the requested use  of potassium sorbate  
by adding the entry to Item P.4  of Part 2 of the List of Permitted Preservatives  as shown in the above table.  
Other Relevant Information  
Food additives and other ingredients generally must be declared in the list of ingredients on the label of pre -
packaged foods sold in Canada. Unstandardized oyster -flavoured sauce containing potassium sorbate  will 
need to have the potassium sorbate  declared in the list of ingredients. This will alert individuals following a 
low potassi um diet to the presence of the additive in this food.  Manufacturers who use potassium sorbate 
should make nutrition information available for foods containing this additive that may not be pre -packaged 
when sold (e.g., food that is prepared in a grocery store for sale from one of its specialty counter).  
Food additives such as potassium sorbate  are required to meet food -grade specif ications set out in Part B of 
the Regulations , where such specifications exist,  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  are prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Co mmittee on Food Additives (JECFA)  and 
published by the Food and Agriculture Orga nization of the United Nations.  
Implementation and Enforcement  
The above modification came into force August 26, 2022, the day it was published in Part 2 of the List of 
Permitted Preservatives .  
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 potassium sorbate . 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 electronically, please use the words " potassium sorb ate (NOM -0189)" 
in the subject line of your e -mail.  
Bureau of Chemical Safety, F ood Directorate  
251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway  
Tunney’s Pasture, PL: 2202C  
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9  
E-mail: bcs-bipc@hc -sc.gc.ca