CRNUK | Safety Standards for Food Additives

Lots of scare stories are around about different food additives. However, all food additives undergo a very strict safety assessment before being allowed for use in foods. As well as looking at studies testing its safety, the assessment also looks at how much of that food additive might be eaten by a child or adult over a lifetime.

The worst-case scenario is used, where a person eats the maximum amount of food additive in every food or drink product in which that specific food additive is permitted. If it looks like one age group would exceed the safe daily amount in that scenario, the permitted level in foods is reduced.

The safe daily amount is worked out by looking at the highest amount that has been proven to cause no harm to the test animals (usually rats), and then dividing that amount by a safety factor (usually 100), in order to work out the amount safe for a human based on how much a person weighs (known as the acceptable daily intake, ADI). Sometimes additional safety factors might be used to further reduce the level, thus lowering the ADI even more.

The studies where potential risks of illness have been highlighted use incredibly high doses of food additive compared to the animal’s weight. Most people would have to eat massive quantities (e.g. kilograms) of pure food additive every day to start getting anywhere near the amount that has been shown to cause harm to the test animals.

If new scientific data suggests that there might be a safety concern from long-term intake, the food additive is reassessed for safety. In some cases, the ADI might be reduced further and the permitted levels in foods reduced or, very occasionally, the food additive might be withdrawn from use.