Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to 
Enable th e Use of Steviol Glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni in Canned Fruit Products   
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch    1 
  
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted 
Sweeteners  to Enable th e Use of S teviol 
Glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni in 
Canned  Fruit Products  
 
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0131 
April 3 , 2019 Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to 
Enable th e Use of Steviol Glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni in Canned Fruit Products   
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch    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 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 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 steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni  as a sweetener in various canned fruit 
products including, but not limited to, canned mixed fruits, peach  slices, and pear slices .  The 
requested maximum level of use is 0.012%.  The Food Directorate also received another food 
additive submission seeking approval for the use of this sweetener in canned pineapple at a 
maximum level of 0.01%.  
 
The canned fruit p roducts of interest are standardized or unstandardized foods, depending on the 
specific product. Those that are standardized, such as canned pineapple, are subject to the 
standard for “Canned (naming the fruit)” prescribed by section B.11.101 of the Food a nd Drug 
Regulations . 
 
Steviol glycosides  from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni is already permitted for use in Canada as a 
sweetener  in a variety of  unstandardized foods .   
 
The results of the Food Directorate ’s evaluation of available scientific data support  the safety of 
steviol gycosides  from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni when used as requested by the petitioner . 
Therefore, Health Canada has modified the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to extend the us e of this 
sweetener  by adding new sub -item (10), as shown in the table below, to Item S.1.2 of the list . 
 
 
Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  
 
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted in or Upon Column 3  
Maximum Level of Use and 
Other Conditions  
S.1.2  Steviol 
glycosides 
from Stevia 
rebaudiana  
Bertoni  (10) Canned (naming the fruit); 
Unstandardized canned fruit  (10) 0.012 % (calculated as 
steviol equivalents)  Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to 
Enable th e Use of Steviol Glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni in Canned Fruit Products   
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch    3  
Rationale  
 
Health Canada’s F ood Directorate completed a pre market safety assessment of the requested 
uses of steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni . The assessment concluded that 
information related to  chemi stry, microbiology, nutrition  and toxicolog y supports the safety of  
this sweetener  for its  requested use s.  Therefore, the Department has enabled the requested use s 
of this sweetener by adding new sub -item (10), as shown  in the table  above , to the entry for 
steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana  Bertoni in the  List of Permitted Sweeteners . 
 
Other Relevant Information  
 
The Food and Drug Regulations  require that food additives such as steviol glycosides  that do not 
have food -grade specifications set out in Part B of the Regulations meet t he most recent food -
grade specifications set out in 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 add itives, published by the United States 
Pharmacopeial Convention.  The Combined Compendium of Food Additive Specifications , which 
contains specifications prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives 
(JECFA) , is published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.   
 
Implementation and Enforcement  
 
The above modification came into force April 3 , 2019 , the day it was published in the List of 
Permitted Sweeteners . 
 
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 any new scientific information on 
the safety in use of any food additive, including steviol glycosides  from Stevia rebau diana  
Bertoni .  Anyone wishing to submit new scienti fic information on the use of this additive  or to 
submit any inquiries may do so in writing, by regular mail or electronically.   If you wish to 
contact the Food Directorate electr onically, please use the words “Steviol glycosides  (NOM -
0131 )” 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 0L2  
E-mail: hc.bcs -bipc.sc@canada.ca