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))
Date: 2003-05-14
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer protection, food additive, foodstuffs legislation, labelling

C 208/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.9.2003

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

particular the intention of the Commission to strictly regulate
food additives in flavourings and proceed to their harmonis-
ation at Community level.

The Additives Directive (95/2/EC) on food additives
1.1.
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

3. Specific comments

Concerning the authorisation of

3.1.
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 Com-
mittee 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

3.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 208/31

consumers’ risk to exceed the recommended ADI. The Com-
mittee suggests defining the terms ‘dairy and fat based spreads’
in order to authorise
in relation to their water content,
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 infor-
mation 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.

The Committee is concerned about the proposed use
3.8.
in non-
of ‘additive in flavourings’ E1519-Benzyl Alcohol
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