COMMI SSION REGUL ATION (EU) 2022/1923 
of 10 Oct ober 2022
amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
as regards the use of ascorbic acid (E 300), sodium ascorbate (E 301) and calcium ascorbate (E 302) in 
tuna 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUR OPEAN COMMISSION,
Havi ng regar d to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Havi ng regard to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on 
food additives (1), and in particular Article 10(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 lays down a Union list of food additives appro ved for use in food and 
their conditions of use.
(2) That list may be updated in accordance with the common procedure refer red to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) 
No 1331/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), either on the initiative of the Commission or 
follo wing an application.
(3) Pursuant to Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, ascorbic acid (E 300), sodium ascorbate (E 301) and calcium 
ascorbat e (E 302) (‘the food additives ’) are currently author ised as food additives in, among other catego ries, categor y 
09.1.1 ‘unprocess ed fish’ and cate gory 09.2 ‘Processed fish and fisher y products including molluscs and crustaceans ’, 
at quantum satis. The Scientific Committ ee on Food considered their use as antio xidants acceptable. The European 
Food Safe ty Author ity (‘the Auth ority’) in its scientifi c opinion re-evaluating the safety of the food additives (3)
conf irmed that there is no safet y concer n for their use as food additives at the repor ted uses and use levels and that 
there is no need for a numer ical acceptab le daily intake. Such a conclusion means that the substance is of a very low 
safety concer n, there is reliable information for exposure and toxicity and there is a low probability of adverse health 
effects in humans at doses that do not induce nutr itional imbalance in animals. Currently , no maximum numer ical 
level is laid down for those food additives and they are to be used in accordance with good manufactur ing practice, 
at a level not higher than what is necessar y to achi eve the intende d purpose and provid ed the consumer is not 
misled.
(4) In unprocessed fish, antio xidants are used to slow down discoloration of fish flesh and rancidity development. In 
unpro cessed tuna, consumers link freshness to the naturally red colour of fresh tuna flesh.
(5) Thaw ed tuna loins mark eted as ‘fresh’ tuna are to be obtained from tuna frozen below – 18 °C after fishing (‘fresh 
tuna’), whereas other thawed tuna loins is to be used only for canning (‘tuna for canning’), in accordance with 
Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). The use of the food additives in 
tuna for canning in high amounts to artificially restore the colour of fresh tuna flesh gives an oppor tunity to 
decep tively mark et that tuna for canning as fresh tuna, selling it at a higher price, misleading the consumers about 
the product and exposing them to the risk of histamine poisoning.
(6) Such use of the food additives, however , does not compl y with the general conditions for inclusion and use of food 
additives in the Union lists and with the quantum satis principle.
(1)OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 16.
(2)Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 establishing a common 
author isation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings (OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 1).
(3)EFSA Journal 2015;13(5):4087, 124 pp.
(4)Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 Apr il 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for 
food of animal origin (OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55).EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 264/8 11.10.2022  (7) Following food fraud investig ations under Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council (5), compet ent author ities regularly repor t cases where tuna loins sold as fresh are found to contain the food 
additives in amounts higher than those considered by those compet ent author ities as necessar y to achieve the typical 
antio xidant effect on fresh tuna. On the basis of this, the compet ent author ities suspect that the food additives are 
being used on tuna for canning to restore their colour and place them on the mark et as fresh.
(8) As it is for the national compet ent author ities to establish that the quantum satis principle has not been compl ied 
with and this may be difficult, the Member States, and in particular Spain, have requested the Commission to lay 
down an appropr iate maximum level for the use of the food additives as antio xidants in thawed tuna sold as fresh 
tuna (unpr ocessed) or mar inate d tuna (processed).
(9) In the interest of legal certainty , and to ensure a high level of consumer prot ection and fair practices in food trade, it 
is theref ore appropr iate to set a maximum level of use in tuna of the additives in food categor ies 09.1.1 and 09.2 in 
Part E of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.
(10) The maximum level should allow to maintain the current levels of legitimate use followi ng good manufa ctur ing 
practices. On the basis of the information provi ded by the industr y to the Auth ority in view of the re-evaluation of 
the safety of the food additives, a maximum level of 300 mg/kg is considered appropr iate. This level is the highest 
use level repor ted by the industr y, as liste d in the Auth ority’s scientifi c opinion.
(11) The Commission has been made awar e of studies carried out by the fish industr y and the opinion of one compet ent 
author ity which concluded that the use of 900 mg/kg of the food additives is necessar y to control oxidation in tuna 
loins maintained below 4 °C for 10 days. However , in light of the information available, and in particular of the fact 
that official controls carried out by some other compet ent author ities showed that a shelf-life of 10 days may be 
achi eved for thawe d tuna with a treatment at 300 mg/kg without it changing the initial colour , the level of 
300 mg/kg appears to be suffi cient to achi eve the desired antio xidant effect.
(12) Setting a maximum level for the use of ascorbic acid (E 300), sodium ascorbat e (E 301) and calcium ascorbat e 
(E 302) as antio xidants in tuna is not liable to have an effect on human health. Theref ore, under Article 3(2), second 
subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008, it is not necessar y to seek the opinion of the Auth ority.
(13) Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 should theref ore be amended according ly.
(14) The measures provid ed for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committ ee on 
Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION:
Article 1
Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
(5)Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official 
activities perfor med to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant 
prot ection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) 
No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council 
Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC 
and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council 
Decision 92/438/EEC (OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1).EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 11.10.2022 L 264/9  Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day followi ng that of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 10 Octobe r 2022 .
For the Commission
The President
Ursula VON DER LEYENEN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 264/10 11.10.2022  ANNEX 
Part E of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 is amended as follows:
(i) in food cate gory 09.1.1 ‘Unprocessed fish’, the follo wing entr ies are inser ted between the entr y for E 302 Calcium 
ascorbate and the entr y for E 315 Erythorbic acid:
‘E 300 Ascorbic acid 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
E 301 Sodium ascorbat e 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
E 302 Calcium ascorbat e 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
(96): E 300, E 301 and E 302 are author ised sing ly or in combination, the maximum limit applies to the sum 
expressed as ascorbic acid’;
(ii) in food catego ry 09.2 ‘Processed fish and fisher y products including molluscs and crustaceans’, the following entr ies are 
inser ted between the entr y for E 251–252 Nitrates and E 315 Erythorbic acid:
‘E 300 Ascorbic acid 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
E 301 Sodium ascorbat e 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
E 302 Calcium ascorbat e 300 mg/kg (96) only tuna
(96): E 300, E 301 and E 302 are author ised sing ly or in combination, the maximum limit applies to the sum 
expressed as ascorbic acid’ .EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 11.10.2022 L 264/11