Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners"

(COM(2002) 662 final - 2002/0274 (COD))

(2003/C 208/07)

On 16 December 2002 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 1 April 2003. The rapporteur was Mr Donnelly.

At its 399th plenary session on 14 and 15 May 2003 (meeting of 14 May), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 111 votes to 1, with 5 abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Additives Directive (95/2/EC) on food additives other than colours and sweeteners sets out a list of authorised food additives, the foodstuffs in which they may be used and their conditions of use. The aim of the Additives Directive is the harmonisation of Community legislation on additives, ensuring a high level of protection of human health and the functioning of the internal market. The Additives Directive has been already amended three times in 1996, 1998 and 2001.

1.2. At present the legislation on food additives is fully harmonised at Community level. The Additives Directive is now proposed to be amended in the light of recent technical and scientific developments. Amendments to the Additives Directive include the following categories: (a) authorisation of a new food additive; (b) withdrawal of the authorisation for the use of some food additives; (c) authorisation for extending the use of authorised food additives; (d) revision of current authorisations; (e) clarification of the scope of the functional class "stabilisers", (f) food additives in flavourings. Following the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 on General Principles of Food Law, flavourings fall within the definition of "food" and are now proposed to be incorporated within the Additives Directive. This will lead to a harmonisation at Community level of the "additives in flavourings", currently differently regulated in the Member States.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee supports, as from previous Opinions, the Commission's Proposal. The Committee welcomes in particular the intention of the Commission to strictly regulate food additives in flavourings and proceed to their harmonisation at Community level.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Concerning the authorisation of the new additive E 907, hydrogenated poly-1-decene, the Committee supports the Commission's proposal to use it as a glazing agent in confectionery and dried fruits. This additive provides an alternative to vegetable oil-based products as some of them contain trans-fatty acids, which use should be avoided.

3.2. The Committee supports the Commission's proposal to withdraw the authorisation for the use of some listed additives, as they are no longer used by food industry.

3.3. Concerning the Commission's proposal to extend the use of a number of additives for which the Amount of Daily Intake (ADI) is "not specified", the Committee believes that the proposal seems technologically justified and there would not be any health concern or misleading problem as these additives do not present a hazard to human health.

3.4. Concerning the Commission's proposal to extend the use of additives with a "specified" numerical ADI, the Committee notes that the proposed extension of use of E200 Sorbic Acid as a preservative in "dairy and fat based spreads" and in partially baked and pre-packed bakery wares only for retail sale (including mass catering and restaurant trades), may provide a risk to human health. The current level of authorised ADI is rather low and this additive is widely used in foodstuffs. A further extension of its authorisation would increase the consumers' risk to exceed the recommended ADI. The Committee suggests defining the terms "dairy and fat based spreads" in relation to their water content, in order to authorise the additive only in spreads with high water content. The Committee believes that its extended use in mass catering and restaurant trades should not be allowed.

3.5. Concerning the revision of the current authorisations, the Commission suggests, among others, extending the use of E 541, sodium aluminium phosphate. Currently this additive is mainly only used in the UK as leavening agent to bakery wares. The proposed amendment would allow the bakers of other Member States to use this leavening agent. However, the tolerably weekly intake (TWI) for aluminium is 7-mg/kg body-weight, therefore by extending the limit of use, the risk of exceeding TWI could increase.

3.6. The Committee fully supports the harmonisation of "food additives in flavourings" which are already authorised by the Member States under different national regulations. In certain cases however, it might be difficult to evaluate whether a transferred additive has a technological function in the food or not. In these cases the maximum level of use for the additive is set in the flavoured food. For these cases, the Committee suggests to label these additives, in order to provide information to consumers.

3.7. The Committee notes that the limit set out for some "additives in flavouring" such as E1505, E1517, E1518, E1520 is set at 3g/kg. The Committee is informed that this limit is lower in some Member States as Denmark, which sets a limit of 1g/kg.

3.8. The Committee is concerned about the proposed use of "additive in flavourings" E1519-Benzyl Alcohol in non-alcoholic flavoured drinks, given that such additive will not have to be labelled and considers that consumers should be informed.

Brussels, 14 May 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger Briesch