Food Law News - EU - 1998
21 December 1998: ADDITIVES - Food Additives from Genetically Modified Organisms.
JFSSG Letter, 21 December 1998
Draft Amendment to Directives on Purity Criteria (95/31/EC, 95/45/EC and 96/77/EC) Concerning Food Additives from Genetically Modified Organisms.
The Commission has tabled a draft Commission Directive designed to impose a legal requirement for the re-evaluation of permitted additives (colours, sweeteners and ‘miscellaneous’) where they are prepared by significantly different production methods or starting materials. This initiative has arisen from concerns that genetically modified additives in particular are not currently subject to such a requirement.
The draft directive is to be discussed at the next EC Additives Working Group (19/20 January).
The draft would insert a new Article 1a into all three Directives. It would state the following:
1) Food additives that are preapred by production methods or starting materials significantly different from those included in the evaluation of the Scientific Committee on Food, shall be subject to a new safety evaluation by the Scientific Committee for Food.
2) If starting material is or is derived from genetically modified organism, it shall always be considered to be a significantly different source.
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