FOOD AND HEALTH ESSENTIALS

Health Canada modifies food additive regulations

Health Canada has issued seven separate notices revising the use of certain additives in dairy and meat products, as well as beverages.

Published in April and May, the notices include the following: 

• NOM/ADM—0090 (published on April 5) permits the use of the lactose-reducing enzyme produced from bacillus licheniformis PP 3930 in certain standardised and unstandardised dairy products.
• NOM/ADM—0091 (published on April 19) extends the permitted use of chymosin B to additional dairy products such as cheese, quark, yoghurt, kefir and sour cream.
• NOM/ADM—0092 (published on April 19) allows the use of advantame as a sweetener in certain tea and coffee beverages and other unstandardised foods.
• NOM/ADM—0093 (published on April 28) permits the use of another sweetener, erythrol, in meal replacement dry beverages and in nutritional supplements in various formats.
• NOM/ADM—0094 (published on May 3) approves the use of calcium lactate in alginate gels used formed meat, poultry and fish products.
• NOM/ADM—0095 (published on May 3) permits the use of lactococcus lactis DSM 11037 as an oxygen scavenger in certain packaged meat products.
•  NOM/ADM—0096 (published on May 3) allows the addition of calcium chloride solution to tenderise cuts of beef and lamb meat.

The complete text of each of the above notices is available at the website of Health Canada here.