Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening  
Agents to  Enable the Use of  Gellan Gum  in Certain Standardized Flavoured Milks  
  
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch    1 
  
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted 
Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening 
Agents to Enable the Use of Gellan Gum in 
Certain Standardized Flavoured Milks  
 
Notice of Modification  – Lists of Permitted Food Additives  
Reference Number: NO M/ADM-0119 
July 9, 2018  
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening  
Agents to  Enable the Use of  Gellan Gum  in Certain Standardized Flavoured Milks  
  
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 gellan gum  in certain standardized flavoured milks , as listed in the table below,  at a 
maximum level of  use of 0.15 % . The standards of composition for these flavoured milks allow 
them to contain stabilizing agents, but gellan gum , although it is an approved food additive, is 
not permitted  for this use  in these standardized products. 
 
The use of gellan gum to stabilize emulsions is well- established. Gellan gum is already permitted 
for use in unstandardized dairy products and unstandardized beverages  at maximum levels of use 
of 0.15 % and 0.08 %, respectively .  
 
Food Directorate  determined that information related to the sa fety of gellan gum supports 
extending its use to  the requested  standardized flavoured milks at a maximum level of use of 
0.15% . Therefore, Health Canada has enabled its use as requested  by adding the entr ies shown in 
the table below to the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents . 
  
Modification to the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents  
 
Item 
No. Column 1  
Additive  Column 2 
Permitted in or Upon  Column 3 
Maximum Level of Use 
and Other Conditions  
G.2 Gellan Gum (11) 
(naming the flavour) Milk; (naming the  
flavour) Partly skimmed  milk;  
(naming the flavour)  Partly  skimmed milk 
with added milk solids ; (naming  the 
flavour)  Skim milk; (naming the flavour) 
Skim milk with added milk solids  (11) 
0.15%  
 
   
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening  
Agents to  Enable the Use of  Gellan Gum  in Certain Standardized Flavoured Milks  
  
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 use 
of gellan gum . The assessment considered chemical, microbiological, nutritional and  
toxicological aspects of the submission and found that the requested use is acceptable from a 
food safety perspective . Therefore, the Food Directorate  has enabled the requested use of gellan 
gum by modifying the List of Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents  
as shown in the above table. 
 
Other Relevant Information  
 
The Food and Drug Regulations  require that food additives such as gellan gum  that do not have 
food- grade specifications set out in Part B of the Regulations meet the 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 com pendium of standards for purity and 
identity for food ingredients, including food additives, 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 July 9, 2018, the day it was published i n the List of 
Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents . 
 
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 info rmation on 
the safety in use of any food additive, including gellan gum . 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 electronically, 
please use the words " Gellan gum  (NOM -0119) " 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: bcs -bipc@hc -sc.gc.ca