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Definitions and Scope

Food ingredient: Food ingredient refers to a recognized and safe edible substance, any substance used in the production and preparation of a food product and appearing in the finished product, but does not include food additives. It covers all food production applications, including leisure foods, soft drinks, children's foods, convenience foods and so on. From the National Standard of the People's Republic of China Basic Terminology for the Food Industry GB/T15091 - 1994, it can be seen that ingredients include main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients, food additives, food nutritional enhancers, processing aids and enzymes, etc., which is a broader scope. However, the general understanding of food ingredients is a small amount of food ingredients in the food formula raw materials, usually natural substances after deep processing and its physiological function has not changed, such as compound seasoning.

Food additive: are synthetic or natural substances added to food to improve its quality and color, aroma and taste, as well as for preservation, freshness and processing needs. Flavors for food, base agent substances in gel-based confectionery, and processing aids for the food industry are also included. The number of food additives approved globally is about 15,000, and there are more than 2,300 kinds of food additives approved for use in China, which are divided into 22 categories according to their functions, and the common ones are antioxidants, bulking agents, coloring agents, preservatives, sweeteners, and flavors for food.

Regulatory Efforts

Food ingredients: there are no strict reporting and approval procedures and restrictions on the scope of use and the amount of use .

Food additives: regulation has been a top priority. China has established a series of regulatory systems for food additives, a strict approval system for food additives, a production licensing system for manufacturers, a food safety risk assessment system, and more than 700 mandatory national standards for food safety covering use regulations, product requirements, production specifications, labeling and marking, and inspection methods. It has also established requirements for production, operation and use and a corresponding supervision and management system, as well as an import and export management system.

Safety

Food ingredients: generally considered to be safer than food additives because food ingredients are mostly edible substances that are recognized as safe.

Food additives: when used within the prescribed range and dosage, they will not affect human health. When setting the maximum use level of each food additive, China conducts food safety risk assessment work, taking into account that people of different ages, regions and genders eat a variety of foods a day and for a long period of time. At the same time, China also carries out continuous and dynamic tracking and evaluation of food additives in use, re-evaluates food additives based on the latest research results at home and abroad, constantly adjusts the scope of use and the amount of use, and bans the use of some substances. However, if food additives are used in excess of the scope and quantity, it may lead to food safety problems.

Application technology content

Food ingredients: application technology content is lower than that of food additives, inexpensive and in large quantities. The dosage of ingredients is relatively large when they are used to process food, usually above 3%, but the boundary between ingredients and food is relative, sometimes a certain ingredient itself is a food (e.g. soy sauce), but it becomes an ingredient when it is used in the processing of some foods.

Food additives: In order to achieve specific needs such as improving food quality and meeting processing techniques, their application often requires more specialized technology and knowledge to control the amount added and the method of use.

Basis of Judgment

Food Ingredients: If a substance is not listed in the Standard for the Use of Food Additives, it is usually considered to be either a main ingredient or a secondary ingredient (i.e., a food ingredient). Corn syrup, for example, cannot be found in the Index of the Standard for the Use of Food Additives, so it is not a food additive but a food ingredient.

Food additives: anything that can be found in the Standard for the Use of Food Additives is an additive.