FSA and FDF prepare guidance as 'no artificial flavours' faces legal limbo

10-Dec-2010 - Last updated on 14-Mar-2017 at 23:40 GMT

Related tags Flavor Fdf

A change to EU legislation means that terms such as 'artificial' and 'nature identical' used to describe flavours will no longer exist as of January 20, posing problems for manufacturers making claims on their products, such as 'no artificial flavours'.

Under the EU food improvement agents package, flavours are now divided into two groups: 'flavourings' and 'natural flavourings'. This means that technically the term, 'no artificial flavours', could become defunct in law.

While many manufacturers are likely to continue making such claims on their packaging, they shouldn't as they will no longer be backed up by a legal definition, said Taste Connection director Andrew Sainsbury.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has yet to release guidance for manufacturers on the changes, however a spokesman said that it would be looking to do so.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) acknowledged the complexity of the new requirements and is also working on developing guidance through its membership of the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of Europe (CIAA).

The industry would like to see uniform interpretation for manufacturers across Europe, an FDF spokeswoman said.