[Updated] Hong Kong Finalizes Amendments to the Preservatives in Food Regulation

The article was originally published on Jun 01, 2023, and updated on October 11, 2024 and December 31, 2024

On December 30, 2024, Hong Kong finalized the amendments to the Preservatives in Food Regulation (Cap. 132BD). The amended regulation comes into force immediately after promulgation. 

The commencement is followed by the 24-month transitional period, which will end on 29 December 2026. During this period, it will be legal for any single food item to comply wholly with the requirements of either the amended regulation or the previous version. 

On October 10, 2024, the Government of Hong Kong S.A.R. gazetted the Preservatives in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2024 (hereafter referred to as the Amendment Regulation). The Amendment Regulation includes updated proposals based on public consultation feedback for the first draft, and will be tabled at the Legislative Council on October 16, 2024 for negative vetting.

Key Updates in the Amendment Regulation （compared to the first draft）:

• Definition of Food: The definition of food has been introduced to exclude foods for special medical purposes from the scope of preservative regulations.

• Repeal of Alternative Form: The concept of "alternative form" has been replaced with a "food additive group." The total amount of food additives within a group in specific foods must not exceed the maximum permitted level for that group.

• Effective Date and Transition Period: Upon approval, the Amendment Regulation will take effect on December 30, 2024. A 24-month transition period will be provided, during which any food product complying with either the existing or amended provisions of the Preservatives in Food Regulation (Cap. 132BD) will be considered legally compliant.

On May 29, 2023, Hong Kong Government launched a public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Preservatives in Food Regulation (Cap. 132BD), in order to keep the standards of preservatives and antioxidants on par with international standards. An 18-month grace period will be given after the regulation's enactment. Comments can be sent to [email protected] till August 28, 2023.

Key Proposed Revisions 

1. Updated definitions of preservative and antioxidant 

To keep in line with international standards, the amendment updates the definitions of preservative and antioxidant with reference to Codex. It should be noted that some substances excluded from the definitions, such as salt, sugar and alcohol, are in fact common food ingredients and can have preservative function. For the sake of clarity, especially from the trade perspective, these substances would continue to be categorically excluded from the definition of "preservative".

2. Updated positive list of preservatives/antioxidants 

The amendment proposes to change the number of permitted preservatives/antioxidants from 32 to 58, comprising 29 existing substance and 29 newly added.

• Removing 3 additives, namely, copper carbonate, diphenyl and formic acid from the 32 permitted preservatives/antioxidants currently being regulated. Since these 3 additives are no longer used in international trade, and there are suitable alternatives, the deletion does not have much impact to the trade.

• Adding 25 additives that currently fall outside of the definitions of preservatives/antioxidants. These 25 additives are permitted for use as preservatives and antioxidants and have relevant standards in Codex.

• Adding 4 food additives that are currently not permitted for use. They are benzoyl peroxide, lauric arginate ethyl ester, stearyl citrate, and rosemary extract.

3. Updated Maximum Permitted Levels (MPLs) for the permitted preservatives/antioxidants 

The amendment proposes to update/stipulate the MPLs of the permitted preservatives and antioxidants for specified food, with reference to Codex and relevant standards, especially the standards in Mainland China. The number of specified MPLs will increase from around 900 to 2,000, with about 80% of them comes from Codex, 17% from Mainland China and the rest 3% from standards in other countries. It is worth noting that the proposed amendment will permit the use of certain antioxidants in infant formula products within MPLs.

4. Newly-established GMP additives list 

According to the proposed amendments, there would be 58 permitted preservatives/antioxidants. Among them, 24 are considered to be GMP additives. The amendment sets out these 24 preservatives/antioxidants in a separate list, and also specifies a list that such general use is not applicable to certain food categories or individual food items.

5. Revised food classification system 

The amendment proposes to update the food category system under Cap. 132BD in light of the Codex. By adopting a food category system familiar to international food trading partners, it would facilitate them to understand the definition and scope of relevant MPLs for specified foods so as to comply with the amended Cap. 132BD.

6. Newly-specified MPLs for nisin 

The existing Cap. 132BD specifies that "any canned food may contain nisin, and any food may contain nisin introduced in the preparation of that food by the use of canned food containing nisin". The proposed amendment adds MPLs for nisin in some specified foods.