Global divide over natural colour regulation

By Sarah Hills

7/31/08 - In the third of a four part series on natural colours, FoodNavigator looks at the regulatory situation in the US and Europe and the challenges this poses for food manufacturers and ingredients companies.

On both sides of the Atlantic coloring in food and beverages is subject to regulation - in the US by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) and in Europe by the European Commission.

Both ensure that colour additives are safely and appropriately used but a colour that is deemed "natural" or "artificial" in the US does not always have the same status in Europe, raising issues for the food industry.

Colourant company DD Williamson points out that the EU and USA recognize the term artificial colour differently.  In the EU artificial color is an acceptable reference to what is recognized in the US as "colour additives subject to certification", "certified colours", "Food, Drugs & Cosmetics (FD&C) colours", or "synthetic colours".

And the colour additives that the industry informally refers to as 'natural' colours are technically recognised by the FDA as "colour additives exempt from certification" or less formally as "exempt colour additives" or "naturally derived colour additives".

Read more of the article from FoodNavigator.com.