By Jess Halliday

Denmark has repealed its national law requiring flavorings for dairy products to go through a risk assessment and approval process, as the EU positive list is finalized and harmonization is on the cards across Europe.

In 1992 Denmark introduced its own legislation covering dairy flavors because at the time there was no positive list of approved flavors for the entire EU. The authorities were especially concerned about flavors in dairy products because children tend to consume a lot of dairy foods. They required usage amounts of flavorings to be specified.

The repeal, which was rubber stamped at the end of May, will be welcomed by flavor companies and food manufacturers who have had to go through a lengthy procedure before launching products on the Danish dairy market.

The new European Flavor regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2008) came into force on January 20, 2009 and becomes applicable on January 20, 2011.

This is the culmination of a decade’s work to bring harmony to European food flavoring regulations. In 1999 a temporary EU positive list was published, covering all flavoring substances, not just those used in dairy. This temporary list formed the basis for EFSA’s flavor evaluation work. With this work complete, the European Commission is expected to confirm the positive, common list of approved flavors for the whole of Europe soon.

A spokesperson for the Danish food ministry Fødevarestyrelsen told FoodNavigator.com that the advanced stage of harmonization means the member state’s separate rules are deemed no longer necessary.

Enzyme Rules
Denmark also has its own rules on approval of enzymes for use as processing aids, which until the new enzyme regulation (No. 1331/2008) have not had to go through an approval process in most member states (France has been another exception).

No announcement has been made to date about a repeal of the enzyme rules to date.

Source: Food Navigator

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