14 May 2014, The National Health and Family Planning Commission of People’s Republic of China (formerly the Ministry of Health) and other four Administrative bodies have jointly published a Notice (NHFPC Notice number 8 of 2014) to restrict and forbid the usages of food additives containing aluminum in China.
This Notice will be implemented on 1 July 2014. Any products containing the following food additives, which have been produced before 1 July 2014, could be sold on the market until the end of their shelf life. Although the Notice did not indicate what the deadline for imported food is, we can expect that the food products containing these additives can be sold on the market before their shelf life provided that they were imported into China before 1 July 2014.
Highlights
1. Sodium aluminium phosphate-acidic, sodium aluminosilicate and starch aluminum octenylsuccinate are forbidden to be produced, sold or used as food additives after 1 July 2014.
| INS No. | Chinese Name | English Name | Function |
| 541i | 酸性磷酸铝钠 | sodium aluminium phosphate-acidic | Bulking Agent |
| 554 | 硅铝酸钠 | sodium aluminosilicate | Anticaking Agent |
| / | 辛烯基琥珀酸铝淀粉 | starch aluminum octenylsuccinate | Thickener, Anticaking Agent, Emulsifier |
2. The usage scopes and allowed dosages of aluminium potassium sulfate and aluminium ammonium sulfate in wheat flour and its product are significantly narrower than before.
|
Before Modification (Category Number/ Food Name) |
After Modification (Category Number/ Food Name) |
| 04.04 Bean product | 04.04 Bean product |
| 06.03.01.01 General wheat flour | Forbidden |
| 06.03.01.02 Appropriative wheat flour (e.g. self-leavening flour, flour for dumplings) | Forbidden |
| 06.03.02.01 Fresh pastas and noodles and similar products (e.g. un-boiled noodles, and “skins” or crusts for dumplings, wontons, steamed pork dumplings) | Forbidden |
| 06.03.02.02 Dried pastas and noodles and similar products | Forbidden |
|
06.03.02.03 Fermented pastas and similar products |
Forbidden |
| 06.03.02.04 Batters (e.g., for breading or batters for fish or poultry) | 06.03.02.04 Batters (e.g. for breading or batters for fish or poultry) |
| 06.03.02.05 Fried flour products | 06.03.02.05 Fried flour products |
| 06.05.02.02 Shrimp-flavored starch flakes | 06.05.02.02 Shrimp-flavored starch flakes |
| 07.0 Bakery food | 07.0 Bakery food |
| 09.0 Fish and fishery products, including mollusks, crustaceans and echinoderms | 09.0 Fish and fishery products, including mollusks, crustaceans and echinoderms |
| 16.06 Puffed food | Forbidden |
3. Any food additives containing aluminum are forbidden to be added to puffed food.
References
http://www.nhfpc.gov.cn/sps/s7891/201405/800ad83e215b4391a982bb9cb69fe49e.shtml
More info about food additive regulations in China, please click here.
Contact
Ms. Cathy Yu, Senior Consultant, Food Safety Regulation, CIRS China
11F Dongguan Building, 288 Qiuyi Road, Binjiang District, Hangzhou, China, 310020
Tel : +86 571 8720 6538 | Fax : +86 571 8720 6533
Email: cathy.yu@cirs-group.com
