[Updated] South Korea Updates Food Additive Code, Introducing New Food Additives

This regulation is implemented on December 21, 2023. 

On September 27, 2023, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) published a draft of the Standards and Specifications for Food Additives (Food Additive Code)¹ for public opinion. The key contents of the revision include (1) specifying new definition of and sulfites’ residue standards for non-alcoholic beverages derived from fruit wines, (2) establishing the exemption provisions for applying food additive usage standards to imported raw materials, and (3) permitting seven new food additives, including vitamin K2, a nutritional ingredient in health functional foods. Suggestions can be submitted to MFDS prior to November 27, 2023.

Details are as follows:

1. Establishment of Specifications for Non-Alcoholic Beverages Derived from Fruit Wines

In South Korea, non-alcoholic beverages (비알코올 음료) refer to drinks containing less than 1% alcohol. With the increasing demand for non-alcoholic beverages made from fruit wines, the authority plans to establish the definition of and standards for "non-alcoholic beverages derived from fruit wines" to facilitate the production and regulate food safety.

Proposed Definition and Sulfite Standards for Non-Alcoholic Beverages Derived from Fruit Wines:

2. Exemption Provisions for Applying Food Additive Standards to Imported Raw Materials

According to the usage purposes, imported foods are sorted as "imported foods for sale", which are sold to consumers, and "imported raw materials for manufacturing products," which are used as ingredients by food manufacturers. Regardless of their purposes, all imported food must comply with the current regulation's usage standards for food additives. However, as the final food product should also meet Korean food additive requirements, the current requirements regarding food additive usage result in redundant compliance steps when it comes to manufacturing products with imported food materials. Therefore, MFDS proposed to exempt the application of the usage standards for food additives when enterprises use imported raw materials for manufacturing products.

Once the revision is implemented, business entities can adopt more semi-processed raw materials to produce final products, thereby expanding the options for raw material selection and improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness in food manufacturing.

3. Addition of Seven New Food Additives

From the beginning of this year, MFDS is gradually promoting the approval of new food additives that are widely internationally used to meet the industry's need. This time, seven food additives are additionally permitted, which are: