Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to Extend the Use of the Sweetener Sucralose to Nutritional  
Supplement Bars and to Protein Isolate  and Uncooked Cornstarch -Based Snack Bars   
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch     1 
  
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted 
Sweeteners  to Extend the Use of the Sweetener 
Sucralose to Nutritional Supplement Bars and to 
Protein Isolate  and Uncooked Cornstarch -Based 
Snack Bars  
Notice of Modification – Lists of Permitted Food Additives  
Reference Number: [NOM/ADM -0058 ] 
 
 
 September  03, 2015   
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to Extend the Use of the Sweetener Sucralose to Nutritional  
Supplement Bars and to Protein Isolate  and Uncooked Cornstarch -Based Snack Bars   
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  (FDR) . Approved food additives and 
their permitted conditions of use are set o ut in the Lists of Permitted Food Additives  that are 
incorporated by reference in the MAs.  A petitioner can request that Health Canada approve a 
new additive or a new condition of u se 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 use d under specified conditions in foods sold in Canada.  
 
Health Canada received a food additive submission seeking approval for the use of sucralose as a 
sweetener in snack bars composed primarily of protein isolate and uncooked cornstarch, and a 
separate submission seeking approval for its use in nutritional su pplement bars.  The submissions 
requested different levels of use according to the amount required to achieve the desired 
sweetening effect in the two types of bar -format foods.   
 
Sucralose is already permitted for use in Canada as a sweetener in a variety of foods.  Health 
Canada determined that the available scientific data support enabling the use of this sweetener in 
both types of bar -format foods that were requested. Therefore,  Health Canada has modified the 
List of Permitted Sweeteners  to extend the use of sucralose to these foods by adding the entries 
shown below to the List.   
 
Modi fication 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.2 
 
 Sucralose  
 
 (16) Protein isolate - 
and uncooked 
cornstarch -
based snack bars  (16) 0.2%  
 
(17) Nutritional 
supplement bars  (17) 0.045%  
 
 
Rationale  
 
Health Canada’s Food Directorate completed a pre -market safety assessment of the use of 
sucralose in bar -format foods.  The assessment considered toxicological, nutritional and 
technical aspects of these uses of sucralose, and found that the requested uses  are acceptable 
from a food safety perspective. Therefore, the Department has enabled the requested uses of 
sucralose by modifying the List of Permitted Sweeteners as described in the above table.  
  
Notice of Modification to the List of Permitted Sweeteners  to Extend the Use of the Sweetener Sucralose to Nutritional  
Supplement Bars and to Protein Isolate  and Uncooked Cornstarch -Based Snack Bars   
Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch     3 Other Relevant Information  
 
The Food and Drug Regulations require that food additives such as sucralose, which do not have 
specifications set out in the Regulations, meet the food -grade specifications set out in the most 
recent edition of the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC).  The FCC is a compendium of standards for 
purity and identity for food ingredients, including food additives, which is published by the 
United States Pharmacopeial Convention.  
 
Implementation and Enforcement  
 
The above modification came into force September  03, 2015 , 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 new scientific information on the 
safety in use of any permitted food additive, including sucralose . Anyone wishing to submit new 
scientifi c information on  the use of these food  additive s 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 word  "sucralose " 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