Notice of Modification to the List of 
Permitted Colouring Agents  to Extend 
the Use of Gold to Cold Smoked 
Salmon Products  
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food 
Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0202  
May 24, 2023 
 Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Colouring Agents  to Extend  the Use of Gold on Cold Smoked Salmon Products  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 t hat Health Canada approve a 
new additive , or 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 
authorization  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 s eeking authorization  for the use of 
gold  flakes as a garnish  on the surface of cold smoked , ready -to-eat salmon products. The requested 
maximum level of use for this colouring agent  is 1 mg of gold per 55 g serving of salmon, equivalent to 
approximately 18 parts per million (p pm). 
Gold is already permitted for use as a colouring agent in lique ur and unstandardized  alcoholic beverages at a 
maximum level of use consistent with Good  Manufacturing Practice . 
The results of the Food Directorate’s evaluation of available sci entific data support the safety  of gold  when 
used as set out in the table  below . Therefore, Health Canada has modified the List of Permitted Colouring 
Agents  to extend  the use of gold  by adding the new entry to Column 2 and 3 of Item  7 in the list, as shown in 
the table below  (bold  font to illustrate added text ). For the definition of “Good Manufacturing Practice” set 
out in column 4 as a Maximum Level of Use, see the Marketing Authorization  for Fo od Additives That May Be 
Used as Colouring Agents . 
 
Modification to the  List of Permitted Colouring Agents  
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2 
Permitted in or Upon  Column 3 
Maximum Level of Use and Other 
Conditions  
7. Gold  (1) 
Unstandardized alcoholic 
beverages; Liqueur  (1) 
Good Manufacturing Practice  
(2) 
Ready -to-eat cold -smoked 
salmon  (2) 
Good Manufacturing Practice. To 
decorate the surface . 
Rationale  
Health Canada’s Food Directorate completed a premarket safety assessment  of gold for use as a garnish on 
the surface of cold smoked , ready -to-eat salmon products . The Directorate considered  allergenicity, 
chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, and toxicology  in the assessment. The results of the assessment support 
the safety of gold for its requested use. Therefore, the Department has enabled the requested use of gold  by 
adding to the  List of Permitted Colouring Agents  the new entr y shown in the above table.  Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Colouring Agents  to Extend  the Use of Gold on Cold Smoked Salmon Products  3 
 Other Relevant Information  
Food additives such as gold  are required to meet food -grade specifications 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  where there are no 
specifications in Part B. 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 Com pendium of Food Additive Specifications  are prepared by the Joint 
FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and published by the Food and Agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations.  
Implementation and Enforcement  
The above modification came in to force May  24, 2023, the day it was published in List of Permitted Colouring 
Agents . 
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is resp onsible 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 . Anyone wishing to submit an inquiry or new scienti fic information on the use of 
a permitted additive may do so in writing, by regular mail or electronically.  If you wish to contact the Food 
Directorate electronically  about gold , please use th e words “gold  (NOM -0202)" 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: bcs-bipc@hc -sc.gc.ca