Notice of Modification to the List of 
Permitted Food Additives with Other 
Accepted Uses  to Enable the Use of 
Potassium Polyaspartate in Wine  
 
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food 
Additives  
Reference Number: NOM/ADM-0162 
February 22 , 2021 
 Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses to Enable the Use of Potassium Polyaspartate 
in Wine – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0162| 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 Pe rmitted 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 foo d 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 polyaspartate  to inhibit the formation of bitartrate crystals in wine . The requested maximum level 
of use is  0.01%.  
The results of the Food Dire ctorate’s evaluation of available scie ntific data support the safety and efficacy  of 
potassium polyaspartate for use to inhibit crystal  formation  in wine .  Since this is a food additive that was not 
previously permitted for use in Canada,  Health Canada’s  Proposal to Enable the Use of Potassium 
Polya spartate to Inhibit Crystal Formation in Wine  was published on July 24, 2020 , which was open to the 
public for comment for 75 days.  No comments were submitted to the Department as a result of this 
Proposal.  Since the conclusions of the evaluation remain as described in the proposal , Health Canada has 
enable d the requested use of potassium polyaspartate by adding the entr y shown in the table below to t he 
List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses . 
 
Modification to the List of Permitted Food A dditives with Other Accepted Uses  
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2  
Permitted in or Upon  Column 3  
Purpose of use  Column 4  
Maximum Level of Use 
and Other Conditions  
P.4.4  Potassium 
Polyaspartate  Wine  To inhibit crystal 
formation  0.01%  
 
Corrective  Modification  
A minor modification was required to place two additives in alphabetical order in the English version of the  
List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses . The entry for potassium stearate was moved from 
immediately preceding the entry for potassium pyrophosphate, tetrabasic  to immediately following it. The 
item numbers for the two additives were switched accordingly (i.e. the item number for potassium 
pyrophosphate, tetrabasic was changed from P.5.1  to P.5 and the item number for potassium stearate was 
changed from P.5  to P.5.1 ).  The same modification was made  to the French version of the List . In addition, a 
minor typographical error was corrected in the header of column 4  of the French version of the List  ( “autre”  
was replaced by  “autres” ) and the number of significant figures for the level of use shown in column 4 of 
subitem no. P.5.1(2) of the French version of the List was revised to align with the English version of the List 
(“2 %” was replaced by “2, 0 %” ). Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses to Enable the Use of Potassium Polyaspartate 
in Wine – Reference Number: NOM/ADM -0162| 3 
 Rationale  
Health Canada’s Food Directorat e completed a premarket safety and efficacy  assessment of potassium 
polyaspartate  for use as an inhibitor of crystal formation in wine .  The assessment did not identify any food 
safety concerns with this use of this additive with respect to allergenicity, chemistry, microbiolog y, nutrition, 
or toxicology .  Therefore, the Department  has enabled the requested use of potassium polyaspartate by 
adding to the  List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses   the new entr y shown in the above 
table.  
Other Re levant Information  
The Food and Drug Regulations  require that food additives such as  potassium polyaspartate  that do not have 
food -grade specifications set out in Part B of the Regulations meet the food -grade specifications 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 P harmacopeial 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 N ations.   
Notification – Summary of Comments  and Health Canada’s 
Responses  
No comments were received  in response to  Health Canada’s Proposal to Enable the Use of Potassium 
Polyaspartate to Inhibit Crystal Formation in Wine , published on July 24, 2020 . 
Implementation and Enforcement  
The above modification came into force February 22, 2021, the day it was published in  the List of Permitted 
Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses .  
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsibl e 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 add itive, including potassium polyaspartate .  Anyone wishing to submit new scientific 
information on the use of this additive  or to submit inquiries on this modification may do so in writing, by 
regular mail or electronically.  If you wish to contact the Food  Directorate electronically, please use the words 
"potassium polyaspartate  (NOM -0162)" 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