At its 44th meeting JECFA considered a new approach to the safety evaluation of flavouring agents. This approach incorporates a series of criteria whose use enables the evaluation of a large number of these agents in a consistent and timely manner. At the current session of the Committee specifications of identity and purity were prepared for 187 flavouring agents. These specifications are documented on the following pages.
The specifications are presented in a tabular formal because with the number of flavouring agents now being evaluated, the method of presentation becomes a matter of efficiency. Some of the substances have uses additional to that of being a flavouring agent, for example also serving as a carrier solvent. For these substances the specifications are presented both in the traditional format in Section A and in the tabular format in Section B. Section B, in some cases, contains a reference back to Section A so as to avoid repeating some tests which apply to all uses.
Information on specifications is given under the following headings, most of which are self-explanatory: Name; Chemical name; Synonyms; Flavour and Extract Manufacturer's Association of the United States (FEMA) No; Council of Europe (COE) No; Chemical Abstract Service Registry (CAS) No; Molecular weight; Chemical formula; Physical form/odour; Solubility; Solubility in ethanol*, Boiling point (information only); Identification test (ID), IR infrared spectrum; Assay min%**; Acid value max'; Refractive index (at 20º, if not otherwise stated)*; Specific gravity (at 25º, if not otherwise stated)*; Other requirements, e.g. additional tests*; and last column indicates the JECFA Session at which the specifications were prepared. A means "also used as an acidity regulator, E means " also used as extraction solvent, C means "also used as carrier solvent", P means " also used as preservative", (See Section A, above). R means "specifications revised", S means "existing specifications maintained, S,T means "existing tentative specifications maintained", (further information ), N means "new specifications", and N,T means "new tentative specifications, ( further information required).
Flavouring agents listed as "Tentative" at the 53rd meeting of JECFA, are given in the next Section (Section C).
The infrared and other spectra, used for identification and comparison purposes, are provided from the next page onwards.
NOTE: Many of the spectra are of unsatisfactory editorial quality. The FAO JECFA Secretariat is exploring ways and means to produce satisfactory and consistent spectra when these specifications are printed again. As it is important in preparing spectra to know the operating conditions to be used; organizations may wish to request details appropriate to an individual flavouring agent from FEMA:
Flavours and Extracts Manufacturers Association,
1620 Eye Street, NW
Suite 925
Washington D.C. 20006
* See General Methods (Guide to JECFA Specifications), FAO Food and Nutrition Paper (FNP) 5/Rev. 2 (1991).
** See Section C - Gas chromatographic (GC) Assay of Flavour Chemicals.
See the table of Specifications of certain flavouring agents
