Food additive regulation

Food additive regulation is the system of laws and procedures that determines which additives may be used in food, under what conditions, and how they must be labeled.

Food additive safety assessment: The scientific evaluation of an additive’s hazards, exposure, and potential health risks under proposed conditions of use. Safety assessment supplies the evidence regulators use when deciding whether an additive can be authorized.
Food additive: A substance intentionally added to food to achieve a technological effect, such as preservation, coloring, or stabilization. The regulatory system begins by defining which substances fall within the category it governs.
Food and Drug Administration: The United States federal agency responsible for protecting public health through regulation of foods, drugs, and other products. The FDA administers most federal rules for food additives in the United States.
Precautionary principle: A policy approach permitting protective action when a plausible threat exists despite scientific uncertainty. The principle shapes how some authorities handle uncertainty in food-safety decisions.
Acceptable daily intake: An estimate of the amount of a substance that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without appreciable health risk. Regulators use this benchmark to set exposure limits for many additives.
Hazard and risk: Hazard is a substance’s capacity to cause harm; risk is the likelihood and severity of harm under particular exposure conditions. Regulators distinguish an additive’s harmful properties from the risk posed by actual dietary exposure.
European Food Safety Authority: The European Union agency that provides independent scientific advice and risk assessments on food and feed safety. EFSA evaluates evidence that supports EU decisions on additive authorization and use.
Risk-based regulation: Regulation that directs controls according to the likelihood and severity of harm posed by an activity or product. It emphasizes assessed risk, while precautionary approaches may act before uncertainty is resolved.
Maximum residue limit: The highest legally permitted concentration of a substance in or on food, established under specified conditions. Limits can translate an authorization into enforceable concentration rules for particular foods.
Dietary exposure assessment: The estimation of how much of a substance people consume through foods and other relevant sources. Exposure estimates help determine whether proposed uses fit within health-based safety limits.

Linked from 12 pages