China CFSA Collects Public Comments on Four New Food Additives including 3’-SL

On December 2, 2025, China's National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) issued four new food additives for public comment, including one new food nutrition enhancer, one food processing aid, and two food additives with additional requirements for quality specifications. Comments are welcomed before January 2, 2026. Details are as follows:

New food nutrition enhancers (one type)

1. 3’-Sialyllactose sodium salt, 3’-SL

The quality specification requirements for 3’-sialyllactose sodium salt shall be implemented in accordance with the draft for public comments on the new varieties of food additives – specifically the section on the nutritional fortifier 3’-sialyllactose sodium salt – in the Notice on Public Consultation Regarding Six New Varieties of Food Additives Including Peroxidase issued by the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA), excluding Appendix D, which contains information on the production strain used for manufacturing 3’-sialyllactose sodium salt.

Information on the production strain for this new nutritional fortifier variety is provided in the table below.

Name	Source	Donor
3’-Sialyllactose sodium salt, 3’-SL	Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3)	Haemophilus parahaemolyticus
Escherichia coli BL21 star (DE3)	Campylobacter spp. and Neisseria spp.
Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655	Campylobacter Jejuni and Neisseriameningitidis

Name

Source

Donor

3’-Sialyllactose sodium salt, 3’-SL

Escherichia coli

BL21 (DE3)

Haemophilus

parahaemolyticus

Escherichia coli

BL21 star (DE3)

Campylobacter spp. and Neisseria spp.

Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655

Campylobacter

Jejuni and Neisseriameningitidis

Food processing aid (one type)

Nitric acid

Name	Function	Scope of use
Nitric acid	Solvent for extraction	Extraction of fruit and vegetable fibers [nitrate residue (calculated as NaNO₃) < 500 mg/kg]

The quality specifications apply to the food additive nitric acid, which is produced by synthesizing liquid ammonia and oxygen and subsequently absorbing the products in water.

Food additives with additional requirements for quality specifications (two types)

Nutrition enhancer —Lacto-N-neotetraose

The quality specification requirements for this substance shall be implemented in accordance with the National Health Commission Announcement No. 8 of 2023 (excluding the production microorganism information for Lacto-N-neotetraose in Appendix D). The production microorganism information for this new nutritional fortifier is listed in the table below.

Name	Source	Donor
Lacto-N-neotetraose	Escherichia coli BL21 star (DE3)	Neisseriameningitidis and Helicobacter pylori

Name

Source

Donor

Lacto-N-neotetraose

Escherichia coli BL21 star (DE3)

Neisseriameningitidis and

Helicobacter pylori

Nutrition enhancer — Vitamin E (dl-α-Tocopheryl Acetate)

The usage scope and dosage of Vitamin E (dl-α-Tocopheryl Acetate) are consistent with the provisions for approved Vitamin E in the GB 14880, except for 13.01 Infant Formula Foods and 13.02 Complementary Foods for Infants.

These quality specifications apply to the food additive Vitamin E (dl-α-Tocopheryl Acetate), which is chemically synthesized from trimethylhydroquinone diester and isophytol. All other requirements shall comply with GB 14756.

If you need any assistance or have any questions, please get in touch with us via service@cirs-group.com.

We have launched a LinkedIn newsletter to keep you up to date on the latest developments across the chemical industry including food and FCMs and personal and home care.