Regulatory changes
Prohibitions, authorisations, announced phase-outs and compliance deadlines, each citing the instrument that made it. Deadlines not yet reached come first; everything else is newest first.
Scheduled
Dates already fixed in law but not yet reached, soonest first, as of 19 October 2026.
FD&C Red No. 3 no longer permitted in food in the United States
The repeal of 21 CFR 74.303 takes effect, ending the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in food, including dietary supplements. The date was set by the order at 90 FR 4628 and confirmed at 91 FR 50475 when the stay was lifted. Its use in ingested drugs continues until 18 January 2028.
Recorded
FDA lists vitamin D2 inactive baker's yeast as a source of vitamin D2 in named foods, effective 25 September 2026
The final order at 91 FR 60796 amends the food additive regulations, adding 21 CFR 172.383, in response to a petition from Lallemand Inc. (Docket FDA-2021-F-1157). It permits vitamin D2 inactive baker's yeast as a source of vitamin D2 in listed food categories, each with its own maximum level of vitamin D2, stated per 100 g, per serving or per 240 mL according to the food. The yeast must meet the specifications the section sets. The order took effect on publication, 25 September 2026. Objections and requests for a hearing are due by 26 October 2026.
Orange B no longer permitted as a colour additive in the United States
The repeal of 21 CFR 74.250 took effect. It was Orange B's only authorised use, so the dye now has no colour additive listing in the United States. The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations shows the section removed as of this date, and no stay of the order has been published.
FDA rejects objections, lifts the stay and confirms the FD&C Red No. 3 deadlines
At 91 FR 50475, FDA concluded that the objections did not raise issues of material fact justifying a hearing, and lifted the administrative stay as of 5 August 2026. The objections argued, among other things, that FDA should not have counted benign adenomas alongside carcinomas when finding that the dye induces cancer in male rats. The effective dates of 15 January 2027 for food and 18 January 2028 for ingested drugs are confirmed.
FDA revokes the Orange B listing, effective 8 September 2026
The final order at 91 FR 46276 repeals 21 CFR 74.250. FDA's records show Orange B was last batch certified in 1978 and that no certification had been requested since; because a certified colour additive may not be used without certification, FDA concluded the use had been abandoned and the listing was outdated and unnecessary. This was not a safety finding: FDA said the safety of synthetic colour additives in general was outside the scope of the action. Objections were due by 24 August 2026.
Spirulina extract expansion delayed indefinitely after objections
As of 20 March 2026, three days before it was due to apply, the effective date of the February order was delayed indefinitely, in a notice published on 24 March at 91 FR 13966. FDA said the delay was required by law once Obelisk Tech Systems Inc. filed timely objections and a request for a hearing, that it does not change FDA's determination that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm under the intended conditions of use, and that it is not a finding that the objections are valid. FDA will announce a new effective date or other action. Until then, spirulina extract remains permitted only in the foods 21 CFR 73.530 already listed.
Rebaudioside M from fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (E 960b(ii)) authorised in Great Britain by register determination
Under the process in force since 1 April 2025, this authorisation was made by ministerial determination and recorded on the FSA/FSS Register of Food Additive Authorisations, not made by statutory instrument. It adds a new production method for E 960b: rebaudioside M from fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, specified as E 960b(ii), with the existing Yarrowia lipolytica specification renumbered E 960b(i). The new specification may be used in the same foods, at the same maximum levels, as the rest of the E 960a–E 960c group. The determination also reissued all existing E 960a–E 960c authorisations in one consolidated text, which the register says makes no substantive change to their scope or conditions. The register records the change for England, Scotland and Wales and links applications RP-1112 and RP-1140 to E 960b. The Welsh determination (NWSI 2026 No. 20) states that it comes into force on 19 February 2026.
FDA orders spirulina extract permitted in foods generally, effective 23 March 2026
The final order at 91 FR 5291 granted the GNT USA petition. It would permit spirulina extract in human foods generally at levels consistent with good manufacturing practice, except infant formula, products regulated by the US Department of Agriculture under the meat, poultry and egg products inspection acts, and foods with a standard of identity unless that standard allows added colour. It would also tighten the purity limits — lead from 2 to 0.2 mg/kg, arsenic from 2 to 0.3 mg/kg and mercury from 1 to 0.1 mg/kg — and add a cadmium limit of 0.3 mg/kg. Objections were due by 9 March 2026. The order has not taken effect.
FDA proposes removing the Orange B listing as abandoned
The proposed order at 90 FR 44786 would repeal 21 CFR 74.250, which permitted Orange B for one use only: colouring the casings or surfaces of frankfurters and sausages, at up to 150 parts per million. FDA said certification data showed Orange B had not been certified for use in food marketed in the United States since 1978, so the authorised use appeared to have been abandoned. Comments were invited until 17 October 2025.
FD&C Red No. 3 revocation stayed after objections were filed
Objections and requests for a public hearing, filed on behalf of Micro-Tracers, Inc., administratively stayed the January 2025 order as of 18 February 2025, the deadline for objections. The stay held the effective dates open while FDA considered the objections. FDA records the stay in its later response at 91 FR 50475; no separate notice of the stay appears in the Federal Register.
FDA orders FD&C Red No. 3 removed from food, effective 15 January 2027
The order at 90 FR 4628 granted a colour additive petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and others, repealing 21 CFR 74.303, which permits FD&C Red No. 3 in food including dietary supplements, from 15 January 2027. Its listing for ingested drugs, 21 CFR 74.1303, is removed from 18 January 2028. The basis is the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, under which a colour additive found to induce cancer in humans or animals is deemed unsafe as a matter of law. FDA found that FD&C Red No. 3 can induce cancer in male rats, through a rat-specific hormonal mechanism.
End of the labelling transition for steviol glycosides renamed E 960a in Great Britain
When steviol glycosides were renumbered from E 960 to E 960a in 2023, regulation 4 of S.I. 2023/334 allowed the additive, and foods containing it, labelled before the end of 14 November 2024 to keep the old name and number and to be placed on the market and used until stocks are exhausted. The Scottish and Welsh instruments contain the same provision, and the FSA/FSS register still records it against E 960a.
Read the instrumentSteviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Steviol glycosides from Stevia)
GNT USA petitions FDA to allow spirulina extract in foods generally
FDA gave notice at 89 FR 63330 of a colour additive petition from GNT USA, LLC, filed on 18 July 2024, asking for spirulina extract to be permitted in foods generally at levels consistent with good manufacturing practice. At the time, 21 CFR 73.530 permitted it only in a listed set of foods, among them confections, frozen desserts, beverages and yogurts.
Second production method for enzymatically produced steviol glycosides (E 960c(ii)) authorised in Great Britain
S.I. 2024/685 added a specification for E 960c(ii): rebaudiosides M, AM and D made by enzymatic conversion of highly purified steviol glycosides from stevia leaf extract. The original enzyme-modified rebaudioside M specification was renumbered E 960c(i). The explanatory note describes this as a new production method for an existing additive, so the uses and maximum levels of the steviol glycosides group did not change. Scotland (S.S.I. 2024/156) and Wales (W.S.I. 2024/741) made the same change on the same day.
Read the instrumentEnzymatically produced steviol glycosides
Steviol glycosides from fermentation (E 960b) authorised in Great Britain
S.I. 2024/685 added E 960b, steviol glycosides from fermentation, to the domestic list of sweeteners as part of the E 960a–E 960c group, with a specification for a mixture made mainly of rebaudioside M by fermentation with a strain of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. The same instrument set a limit of 0.1 mg/kg for ethylene oxide residues in all food additives. Parallel instruments for Scotland (S.S.I. 2024/156) and Wales (W.S.I. 2024/741) came into force on the same day. These instruments do not apply in Northern Ireland.
Use of polyglycerol polyricinoleate (E 476) extended to edible ices and fattier emulsified sauces in Great Britain
S.I. 2024/685 authorised E 476 in edible ices (category 03) at up to 4,000 mg/kg, except sorbets. In sauces (category 12.6) it replaced the existing entry with two: up to 4,000 mg/kg in emulsified sauces with less than 20% fat, and up to 8,000 mg/kg where the fat content is 20% or more. The FSA/FSS register lists application RP-217 for this change and gives 28 June 2024 as the date of E 476's current status. Scotland (S.S.I. 2024/156) and Wales (W.S.I. 2024/741) made the same change.
Read the instrumentPolyglycerol esters of interesterified ricinoleic acid
Enzymatically produced steviol glycosides (E 960c) added to the Great Britain list of food additives
The Food Additives, Food Flavourings and Novel Foods (Authorisations) (England) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/334) added E 960c, specified as rebaudioside M produced via enzyme modification of steviol glycosides from Stevia, to the domestic list of sweeteners, with the same food categories and maximum levels as stevia-derived steviol glycosides. The same instrument renamed the existing E 960 listing as E 960a, steviol glycosides from Stevia, so that the two are regulated as one group. Parallel instruments made the same change in Scotland (S.S.I. 2023/78) and Wales (W.S.I. 2023/343), each in force on 15 May 2023. These instruments do not apply in Northern Ireland.
Read the instrumentEnzymatically produced steviol glycosides
Transition period for titanium dioxide (E 171) ended in the EU
Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63: until 7 August 2022, foods produced in accordance with the rules applicable before 7 February 2022 could continue to be placed on the market. After that date they may remain on the market until their date of minimum durability or 'use by' date.
Titanium dioxide (E 171) removed from the EU list of authorised food additives
Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63 of 14 January 2022 deleted titanium dioxide from Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, and entered into force on 7 February 2022. It followed EFSA's opinion of 6 May 2021, which said a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out and concluded that titanium dioxide can no longer be considered safe when used as a food additive. The regulation leaves the substance authorised for the time being as a colour in medicinal products under Directive 2009/35/EC, and directs the Commission to delete that use within three years. Titanium dioxide remains permitted as a colour in food in the United States under 21 CFR 73.575. The regulation does not apply in Great Britain, where the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland register of food additive authorisations records titanium dioxide as authorised in England, Scotland and Wales, with a status date of 31 December 2020 (data.food.gov.uk/regulated-products/food_authorisations/e-171).
Detected in the weekly refresh
Every week each regulator’s list is imported again and compared with the week before. These are the differences found — a provision added or removed, a level or condition revised — dated by when the refresh saw them, not when they took legal effect. They are not interpreted: the additive’s page shows each provision with its citation.
- Potassium nitrate: European Union: 6 provisions added, 3 provisions removed.
- Removed 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 150 mg/kg
- 1.7.4 whey cheese: 150 mg/kg → 75 mg/kg
- 1.7.6 cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16): 150 mg/kg → 75 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 75 mg/kg
- Sodium nitrate: European Union: 6 provisions added, 3 provisions removed.
- Removed 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 150 mg/kg
- 1.7.4 whey cheese: 150 mg/kg → 75 mg/kg
- 1.7.6 cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16): 150 mg/kg → 75 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 110 mg/kg
- Added 1.7.2 ripened cheese — 75 mg/kg
- Vitamin D2 inactive bakers yeast: United States status changed from not listed to permitted with conditions; 1 provision added.
- Added — no quantity stated
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Reference values that changed
The same comparison, run over the acceptable daily intakes EFSA and JECFA have set. A revision is reported as a revision, with both figures and the year each was set; it is never described as a tightening or a relaxation, and a lower figure is not a finding that the other body was wrong. See reference values for what an intake is and is not.
No revisions detected yet. Comparison began in September 2026, with the intakes then on record as the baseline.
What this feed is not
The events above are not comprehensive, and they are not computed. Each is drafted with an AI model after reading the instrument and cites it (how this site is made), because deciding whether an amendment is a phase-out, a revocation or a technical correction is a judgement, and guessing would put a false regulatory claim on an additive page.
Our ingest already detects the raw signal: sections of 21 CFR that carry a published amendment not yet in force are flagged on every run. The three flagged so far — FD&C Red No. 3, Orange B and spirulina extract — are written up above. New flags appear in the ingest report and wait here until someone has read the instrument.
For anything not in this feed, the status panel on each additive page shows the regulation as it currently stands, with the date we retrieved it. SeeMethod.