Definitions of flavouring categories

The following are the definitions found in Article 3(2) of Regulation 1334/208 but the Regulation should be consulted where reference is made to other parts of the Regulation (e.g. Annex II):

(a) ‘flavourings’ shall mean products:

(i) not intended to be consumed as such, which are added to food in order to impart or modify odour and/or taste;
(ii) made or consisting of the following categories: flavouring substances, flavouring preparations, thermal process flavourings, smoke flavourings, flavour precursors or other flavourings or mixtures thereof;

(b) ‘flavouring substance’ shall mean a defined chemical substance with flavouring properties;

(c) ‘natural flavouring substance’ shall mean a flavouring substance obtained by appropriate physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes from material of vegetable, animal or microbiological origin either in the raw state or after processing for human consumption by one or more of the traditional food preparation processes listed in Annex II. Natural flavouring substances correspond to substances that are naturally present and have been identified in nature;

(d) ‘flavouring preparation’ shall mean a product, other than a flavouring substance, obtained from:

(i) food by appropriate physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes either in the raw state of the material or after processing for human consumption by one or more of the traditional food preparation processes listed in Annex II;
and/or
(ii) material of vegetable, animal or microbiological origin, other than food, by appropriate physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes, the material being taken as such or prepared by one or more of the traditional food preparation processes listed in Annex II;

(e) ‘thermal process flavouring’ shall mean a product obtained after heat treatment from a mixture of ingredients not necessarily having flavouring properties themselves, of which at least one contains nitrogen (amino) and another is a reducing sugar; the ingredients for the production of thermal process flavourings may be:

(i) food;
and/or
(ii) source material other than food;

(f) ‘smoke flavouring’ shall mean a product obtained by fractionation and purification of a condensed smoke yielding primary smoke condensates, primary tar fractions and/or derived smoke flavourings as defined in points (1), (2) and (4) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003;

(g) ‘flavour precursor’ shall mean a product, not necessarily having flavouring properties itself, intentionally added to food for the sole purpose of producing flavour by breaking down or reacting with other components during food processing; it may be obtained from:

(i) food;
and/or
(ii) source material other than food;

(h) ‘other flavouring’ shall mean a flavouring added or intended to be added to food in order to impart odour and/or taste and which does not fall under definitions (b) to (g);

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