Definitions of 'Food additive', 'Food enzyme', 'Processing aid' and 'Carrier'

When used in the Food Information Regulation, the terms 'Food Additive', 'Food Enzyme', 'Processing Aid' and 'Carrier' take the definitions provided in either Regulation 1332/2008 (on food enzymes) or Regulation 1333/2008 (on food additives). These definitions are provided here:

Food Additive [taken from Article 3(2)(a) of Regulation 1333/2008]

‘Food additive’ shall mean any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food, whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of such food results, or may be reasonably expected to result, in it or its by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods;

The following are not considered to be food additives:

(i) monosaccharides, disaccharides or oligosaccharides and foods containing these substances used for their sweetening properties;
(ii) foods, whether dried or in concentrated form, including flavourings incorporated during the manufacturing of compound foods, because of their aromatic, sapid or nutritive properties together with a secondary colouring effect;
(iii) 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;
(iv) 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 neutralisation with sodium or potassium salts (liquid pectin);
(v) chewing gum bases;
(vi) 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;
(vii) ammonium chloride;
(viii) blood plasma, edible gelatin, protein hydrolysates and their salts, milk protein and gluten;
(ix) amino acids and their salts other than glutamic acid, glycine, cysteine and cystine and their salts having no technological function;
(x) caseinates and casein;
(xi) inulin.

Food Enzyme [taken from Article 3(2)(a) of Regulation 1332/2008]

‘Food enzyme’ means a product obtained from plants, animals or micro-organisms or products thereof including a product obtained by a fermentation process using micro-organisms:

(i) containing one or more enzymes capable of catalyzing a specific biochemical reaction; and
(ii) added to food for a technological purpose at any stage of the manufacturing, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of foods.

Processing Aid [taken from Article 3(2)(b) of Regulation 1333/2008]

‘Processing aid’ shall mean any substance which:

(i) is not consumed as a food by itself;
(ii) is intentionally used in the processing of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfil a certain technological purpose during treatment or processing; and
(iii) may result in the unintentional but technically unavoidable presence in the final product of residues of the substance or its derivatives provided they do not present any health risk and do not have any technological effect on the final product.

Carrier [taken from Point 5 of Annex 1 of Regulation 1333/2008]

‘Carriers’ are substances used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or a flavouring, food enzyme, nutrient and/or other substance added for nutritional or physiological purposes to a food without altering its function (and without exerting any technological effect themselves) in order to facilitate its handling, application or use.