Food regulations steps:

• General regulations

• Food standards

• Food hygiene

• Food additives

• Pesticides

• Veterinary drug residues

• Food packaging and labeling

• Food advertising

General regulations:

The general regulations include detailed regulations for guidance of those who enforce

food law, regulations concerning official actions, such as making inspections, collecting

samples, making decisions about serious infractions, and the disposition of seized lots

of food. Regulations concerning imported foods should cover all aspects of the handling

of imported foods.

Regulation 1333/2008 (Article 3) lists a number of substances that are

not considered to be food additives and are therefore, outside the

scope of the additives legislation. These are as follows:

Monosaccharides, disaccharides or oligosaccharides and foods containing these

substances used for their sweetening properties

Foods, whether dried or in concentrated form, including flavorings incorporated

during the manufacturing of compound foods, because of their aromatic, sapid or

nutritive properties together with a secondary coloring effect

Substances used in covering or coating materials, which do not form part of

foods and are not intended to

be consumed together with those foods, e.g. wax coating on cheese

(Products containing pectin and derived from dried apple pomace or peel of

citrus fruits or quinces, or from

a mixture of them, by the action of dilute acid followed by partial neutralization

with sodium or potassium

salts (liquid pectin)

Chewing gum bases

White or yellow dextrin, roasted or dextrinated starch, starch modified by acid or

alkali treatment, bleached

starch, physically modified starch and starch treated by amylolitic enzymes

Ammonium chloride

Blood plasma, edible gelatin, protein hydrolysates and their salts, milk protein

and gluten

Amino acids and their salts other than glutamic acid, glycine, cysteine and

cysteine and their salts having no

technological function

Caseinates and casein

Inulin

Food standards:

In every country, standards are an important part of the regulation of food production

and food trade. Food standards and standardization are treated in other contributions to

this series.

Laws and Regulations to Prevent Gross Adulteration and

Contamination:

Laws and regulations are still needed to prevent gross adulteration and contamination.

Although the forms of gross adulteration and contamination of foods (e.g., diluting milk

with water, adding foreign matters to spices, use of harmful dyes or chemicals to mask

defects of quality, and so on) are rare, in developed countries in particular, the

adulteration of fruit juices with lower value fruit varieties, or of instant coffees with cereal

and malt-based ingredients have occurred in the late twentieth century.

Microbial Contamination, Hygienic Practice:

It is estimated that 80% to 90% of the outbreaks of foodborne illnesses during the 1990s

may be attributed to contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, primarily Salmonella

and Staphylococci. Proper hygienic practices should be utilized to prevent

microbiological contamination and to minimize spoilage of perishable foods, which are

most often the vehicles for these contaminants.

An adequate supply of safe water is essential for processing food and maintaining

sanitary conditions. Hygienic practices deal with raw materials requirements, processing

plant facilities, hygienic operating requirements and practices, health requirements for

food handlers, and so on.

Food additives:

A food additive is any chemical substance that is added to food during preparation or

storage and either becomes a part of the food or affects its characteristics for achieving

a particular technical effect.

Classification:

A. Food additives are divided into categories or functional classes according to their

technological function, e.g. Preservatives, anti-oxidants, sweeteners, colors,

etc.

B. Foodstuffs are also divided into categories, and specific conditions are laid down

regarding which additives or groups of additives may be used in the different food

Categories. The use of food additives is generally not permitted in certain food

categories, e.g. unprocessed foods and foods for infants and young children,

including dietary foods for infants and young children for special Medical purposes

except where specifically provided for in the legislation.

Process of food additives:

Authorized food additives:

• Its safety has been evaluated based on the available scientific evidence

• On the basis of this evaluation it is considered to present no hazard to the health of the

consumer at the level of use proposed

• There is a technological need for its use that cannot be achieved by other

economically and technologically practicable means

• Its use does not mislead the consumer

Food additives must also have advantages and benefits for the

consumer and therefore, serve one or more of the following purposes:

• Preserving the nutritional quality of the food

• Providing necessary ingredients or constituents for foods manufactured for groups of

consumers with special dietary needs

• Enhancing the keeping quality or stability of a food or improving its organoleptic

properties, provided that

the nature, substance or quality of the food is not changed in such a way as to mislead

the consumer

• Aiding in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, transport or

storage of food,

including food additives, food enzymes and food flavorings, provided that the

food additive is not used to

disguise the effects of the use of faulty raw materials or of any undesirable

practices or techniques, including

unhygienic practices or techniques, during the course of any such activities

Uses and examples:

Examples of food additives include

A. Coloring agents that give foods an appetizing appearance,

B. Anticaking agents that keep powders such as salt free-running,

C. Preservatives that prevent or delay undesirable spoilage in food,

D. Certain sweeteners that are used to sweeten foods without appreciably adding to

the caloric value of the foods.

Table for preservatives in different foods:

Under the Food and Drug Regulations, food Additives do not

include:

1. food ingredients such as salt, sugar, starch;

2. vitamins, minerals, amino acids Footnote 1;

3. spices, seasonings, flavoring preparations;

4. agricultural chemicals;

5. veterinary drugs; or

6. Food packaging materials.

Additives:

Permitted Anticaking Agents

Permitted Bleaching, Maturing or Dough Conditioning Agents

Permitted Coloring Agents

Permitted Emulsifying, Gelling, Stabilizing or Thickening Agents

Permitted Food Enzymes

Permitted Firming Agents

Permitted Glazing or Polishing Agents

Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses

Permitted Sweeteners

Permitted pH Adjusting Agents, Acid-Reacting Materials

Water Correcting Agents

Permitted Preservatives

Permitted Sequestering Agents

Permitted Starch Modifying Agents

Permitted Yeast Foods

Permitted Carrier or Extraction Solvents

How food additives regulated:

Food additives regulated in different countries under the Food and Drug Regulations

and associated Marketing Authorizations (MAs).Scientists from Health Pakistan’s food

Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, conduct a detailed and rigorous pre-

market evaluation of the submission that focuses on safety. The evaluation considers

the toxicological aspects of the proposed use of the additive, as well as relevant

microbiological and/or nutritional factors. Food additives must be of suitable quality,

must be effective for their intended purpose, and, when used according to the Lists,

must not pose a hazard to the health of the consumer. The Food and Drug Regulations

(the Regulations) require that food additives must meet certain standards for identity

and purity in order for the additive to be considered food-grade.

Food additives, including most food colors, must meet the specifications either of the

Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) or of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food

Additives (JECFA).

E-code numbers:

E numbers are codes for substances that are permitted to be used as food additives for

use in different countries. The "E" stands for "Europe". Commonly found on food labels,

their safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food

Safety Authority.

Table:

Regulation of halal and haram food additives:

Additives, which are ALWAYS of animal origin, such as (HARAAM):

E120 Cochineal : a red color obtained from female insects

E441 Gelatin : derived from the bones and/ or hides of cattle and/ or pigs

E542 Edible Bone Phosphate : an extract from animal bones

E904 Shellac : a resin from the lac insect

Whilst some additives with a common code such as E47, can be either of animal

or plant origin and this latter type needs to be

Investigated on a case-by-case basis per product/ manufacturer.

The main additives you need to be aware of are:

Glycerol / Glycerin / Glycerin (E422) - haram if obtained from pork or non-halal

meat sources.

Emulsifiers (E470 to E483) - haram if obtained from pork or non-halal sources.

Edible Bone Phosphate (E542) - haram if obtained from pork or non-halal meat

sources

Purpose of food additives:

Food additive quantity:

Additive regulations:

1. Coloring matter:

Natural:

Carotenes

Chlorophyll

Curcumin

Annatto

Inorganic:

Brilliant blue

Tartrazine

erythrosine

2. artificial sweetener:

sodium saccharin

neotame

acesulfame K

3. use of polyols:

isomalt

maltitol

Toxicity adverse effects of food additives:

digestive disorders:

Stomach pain

nervous disorder

Hyper-activity and irritability

respiratory problems:

Asthma and sinusitis

skin problems:

Hives, itching, rashes and swelling

Food labeling:

When food colors are added to pre-packaged foods, they must be declared by common

name in the list of ingredients. For many years, manufacturers have had the option of

simply using the word “color” as the common name for declaring added food colors.

However, on December 14, 2016, Health Pakistan changed the Food and Drug

Regulations in order to remove the option of using the word “color”.

This means that added food colors will have to be declared by their specific common

name. Manufacturers have been given a five-year transition period for changing food

labels. After the transition period, all ingredient lists on food labels will need to comply

with the updated regulations.