January 13, 2015 – Regulations on food ingredients are not in harmony, or even close. Occasionally, a particular country’s regulations can be followed with some ease. However, more often, one must refer to a regional customs union, a global organization like Codex, or to the rules of the U.S., EU or Japan, noted Carolyn Fisher, Senior Scientist at Decernis, as she spoke about opportunities & headwinds in global ingredient regulations.
“Much will be happening in the food regulatory arena in the next five years,” said Fisher. “Food additive regulations are in the midst of change,” she added.
To illustrate this point, Fisher examined the food label on a beverage with example ingredients that could be construed as an additive. She then cross-referenced those ingredients under 24 different sets of local, regional and global regulations. The exercise was to show that some ingredients would be fine in some countries, but issues arise in others.
“One product does not necessarily fit in all countries because of the regulatory landscape,” she said. In most cases, protein isolates are considered food and aren’t a problem, but additives are a different story.
“So, as you’re developing that new product, please include your regulatory specialist in your discussions at the design stage,” she said. “Don’t wait until you’ve developed something and then get their approval, making them the police at the end of the process and requiring them to say, ‘No, you can’t do it. You’ll have to reformulate.’”
“Opportunities and Headwinds in Global Ingredient Regulations,” Carolyn Fisher, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Decernis
The summary above is from the “2014 Protein Trends & Technologies Seminar: Business Strategies” Magazine.
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