Changes in the technical regulations of the Customs Union for food additives, flavorings and technological means are entering into force, which will shorten the list of permitted food additives, the press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EIC) announced.

The changes, which come into force on February 27, are updates to five sections of the technical regulation "Safety requirements for food additives, flavorings and processing aids" and 29 annexes to it.

"Five new concepts have been introduced, a number of definitions have been updated, while the list of permitted food additives has been reduced from 362 to 349 by removing 19 items and introducing six new food additives into circulation," the EIC said.

Meanwhile, the list of flavoring substances for the production of food flavors has been greatly expanded. For each, the ingredients of the main substance, the scope of their application and the maximum permissible content in food products have been established.

The document was adopted in view of the changes in international and European legislation and to be in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the countries of the Union and their trading partners.

"The best practices of the food industry of a number of countries in connection with the use of promising enzyme preparations were examined, the list of which was expanded from 56 to 331 positions. The scope of their application includes the processing of vegetables and fruits, the production of dairy products, meat, fish, alcoholic products, bakery products, grain products, coffee, tea and some other goods," the EIC explained.

There is a 36-month transition period for the changes to be fully implemented.