The EU safety assessment of food chemical mixtures – Focus on food additives and their potential combined uses
This paper complements EU Specialty Food Ingredientsā statement titled āThe EU assessment of food chemical mixturesā (2022) with a focus on food additives.
As underlined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), āunderstanding how combined chemicals behave is complex and the number of combinations is potentially infiniteā; yet the combination of food ingredients used to produce foodstuffs shall not raise safety issues.
Food additives are subject to an assessment of their safety before they are permitted for use in foods and beverages. The assessment shall be carried on single additives, in accordance with the EU legislative requirements. However, this should not be interpreted as the EU legislator failing to address combined exposures appropriately.