The United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency announced new regulations on contaminants, food additives, flavorings, enzymes and extraction solvents that went into effect October 31.                 

The Food Additives, Flavourings, Enzymes and Extraction Solvents (England) Regulations 2013 will consolidate all food additive legislation into one comprehensive tool to help business owners and enforcement officers easily identify relevant information.

No major substantive changes were made to the rules, though some minor amendments were made. They include the use of compliance notices for non-food safety-related contraventions like labeling provisions for business-to-business sales.

The Contaminants in Food Regulations 2013 revoke and amend the Contaminants in Food Regulations 2010. The new regulations also revoke the Mineral Hydrocarbons in Food Regulations 1977, as well as specific EU controls on mineral hydrocarbon, additives and contaminant residues. In addition, they amend provisions in the 2010 Regulations to rectify under-enforcement of provisions on the labeling of groundnuts and other oilseeds, as well as products thereof.

FSA has published a guide to compliance available here (pdf).