. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CAN/300 
25 September 2007  
 (07-4018) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  CANADA   
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Health Canada 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  Unstandardized foods, sp ecifically soups, fresh an d frozen prepared meals, 
prepared salads and sandwich  spreads based on egg, fish, meat and poultry (ICS: 67.040) 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  Not 
stated. 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Interim Marketing 
Authorization regarding the use of potassium lactate as a pH adjusting agent in unstandardized foods (a vailable in English and French, 2 pages) 
6. Description of content:   
Health Canada has received a submission to permit the use of potassium lactate as a pH 
adjusting agent in unstandardized foods, specif ically soups, fresh and frozen prepared meals, 
prepared salads and sandwich spreads based on egg, fish, meat and poultry, at levels 
consistent with good manufacturing practice.  Evaluation of availa ble data supports the safety 
and effectiveness of potassium  lactate as a pH adjusting agent in these food products.  
The use of potassium lactate w ill benefit both consumers and i ndustry by providing a possible 
replacement for sodium lactate, thereby helpi ng to reduce the sodium content in processed 
foods.  
Therefore, it is the intention of Health Canada to recommend that the Food and Drug 
Regulations  be amended to permit the use of potassi um lactate as a pH adjusting agent in 
unstandardized foods at le vels consiste nt with good manufacturing practice.  
As a means to improve the responsiveness of the regulatory system, an Interim Marketing 
Authorization (IMA) is being issued to permit the immediate use of potassium lactate in 
soups, fresh and frozen prepared meals, prepared salads and sa ndwich spreads based on egg, 
fish, meat or poultry, at levels consistent  with good manufacturing practice, while the 
regulatory process is undertaken to formally amend the Regulations.  
The proposed regulatory amendments would be enabling measures to allow the sale of 
additional foods containing potassium lactate as  a pH adjusting agent.  The amendments are 
supported by the safety assessment and woul d have low impact on the economy and the 
environment. Consequently, the regulatory am endments may proceed directly to final 
approval and publication in the Canada Gazette , Part II. G/SPS/N/CAN/300 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Canada Gazette, 
Part I, 15 September 2007, Pages 2717-2718 (available in English and French) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Immediate for this IMA. For the final regulation, normally 
within 12-18 months of publication of the Noti ce of Interim Marketing Authorization in the 
Canada Gazette , Part I, 15 September 2007. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Immediate for this IMA. For the final regulation, 
normally within 12-18 months of publicati on of the Notice of Interim Marketing 
Authorization in the Canada Gazette , Part I, 15 September 2007. 
12. Final date for comments:  29 November 2007 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notifica tion authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
The electronic version of the regulator y text can be downloaded at:   
http://canadagazette.gc.c a/partI/2007/20070915/pdf/g1-14137.pdf   
or  http://canadagazette.gc.ca/part I/2007/20070915/html/no tice-e.html#i2 
(English) 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/pa rtI/2007/20070915/html/notice-f.html  (French)