FSA News Item, 23 September 2010

ADDITIVES  - Request to companies to identify any current usage of colour/food combinations which are being considered for removal from permitted list.

The Food Standards Agency is keen to hear from any company that uses specific colours in particular types of products that the EC proposes should no longer be permitted.

If there is no evidence of the colours being used, permission for use in that food category will be withdrawn. Major European trade associations are not aware of the colours currently being used in the food categories mentioned.

The colours are listed by food category in the document that can be downloaded from the link at the end of this page.

The European Union is in the process of transferring authorised colours into a new food categorisation system that will be included in Annex II of Regulation 1333/2008. This will replace the current annexes in Directive 94/36/EC and will make it easier to identify which colours are permitted in different food categories.

As part of this work, the European Commission proposes to remove food colour/food category combinations where there is no longer any use of them. It is not intended that new or additional uses of colours should be permitted by this work.

Deadline for comments

If your company does use any of the colours in the food categories listed, please contact the Agency’s food additives team by emailing foodadditives@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.

Please send any comments by 15 October 2010 in order for us to consider them in European discussions.

The document listing food and colour combinations being considered for deletion is avaialbel on this site. See: FSA listing of food/colour combinations for possible deletion.