How Japan manages food additives

This National Day holiday, food additives have once again attracted the attention of consumers
.
We know that the use of food additives is strictly regulated worldwide, with the aim of ensuring the safety and process necessity
of food additives to use.
However, due to differences in economy, society, eating habits and other aspects, the food additive management systems of various countries and regions are different
.
Food exporting enterprises should understand the specific regulations of their target countries in order to ensure the compliance
of product exports.
In order to enable relevant enterprises to have a deeper understanding of the differences in food additive regulation in various countries/regions, the Food Partner Network will provide you with an analysis of the regulatory requirements of food additives in each country/region, and provide you with how to manage
food additives in Japan.

 

Regulation of food additives in Japan

 

Only food additives (excluding natural flavors and general dietary additives) that the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare consider to be harmless to human health, as well as preparations and foods containing such additives, are allowed to be manufactured, processed, imported, used, sold, stored or displayed for sale or for the purpose of sale, that is to say, the current Japanese food additives are designated as a system, and only food additives designated by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare can be used in the production or processing of
food.

 

For additives that are not specified in Japan, enterprises may apply to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan for designation, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare entrusts the Japan Food Safety Commission to conduct a risk assessment of the additive and preset the limit for the use of the additive, and then listen to the opinions of the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Hygiene Council under the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to decide whether to list the additive as a designated additive
.

Use of food additives in Japan

 

Japan has formulated the "Specifications and Standards for Food, Additives, etc.
" and the "Food Additive Statute", which stipulate the composition specifications, production standards, use standards, and quality retention methods of specified additives and existing additives, and the use limits and scope of use of additives must comply with the provisions of
the above standards and regulations 。 The food additives that do not have a scope of use in the standard regulations are considered to be used in all foods in principle, and the use of limited food additives is generally assessed by the Japan Food Safety Board and considered that there is no harm to human health, and there is no need to set a limit for the use of substances, therefore, such additives are used
in accordance with GMP.

 

However, the amount of natural flavors used in food incense is very small, and Japan does not set the scope and limit of the use of natural flavors; General dietary additives due to its speciality that can be used as both food and food additives, Japan has not set the scope of use and use limits of such additives, that is, in principle, natural flavors and general dietary additives can be used
in accordance with GMP in all foods.

 

Identification of Japanese food additives

 

The Food Labeling Law clearly stipulates that food sales must be marked with food names, additives, raw materials and other related matters to ensure consumers' right to choose and know
.
The Food Labelling Standard provides more detailed labelling
requirements for food and food additives.
For food additives used in food, in principle, the name of the substance of the additive should be marked; Some additives may use their use name or abbreviation to replace the substance label of the additive; When food additives are used as sweeteners, colorants, preservatives, thickeners and other uses, the name of the substance and the name of the use of the relevant additive should be marked at the same time
.

 

The Food Labeling Law formulated in 2013 and the Food Labeling Standard formulated in 2015 do not have relevant provisions on the use of additives or no additives, which makes some food enterprises arbitrarily mark the words "no use" or "no additives" on the product packaging, resulting in misunderstanding by some consumers, so on March 30, 2022, the Japan Consumer Agency issued the "Guidelines for Labeling Without the Use of Food Additives" to regulate the labeling of "no use" or "no additives" on products
。

This article is the original article of the Food Partner Network Food Safety Compliance Division, please contact
us for reprint.
Food Safety Compliance Division provides domestic and foreign food standards and regulations management and consulting, food safety information monitoring and analysis and early warning, product registration declaration and filing services, label review and compliance consulting, conference training services, etc.
, for details: 0535-2129301, E-mail: vip@foodmate.
net
.