Additives permitted in cheese

Cheese of every kind, including processed cheese, whey cheese and edible rind.

This comparison is a starting point, not an equivalence. The four systems here do not share a vocabulary, so the categories shown for each are this site's reading of where a food in this group falls. The systems draw this group the same way, give or take internal detail. The outer edge of the group is the same everywhere; the internal cuts are not. Schedule 15 divides cheese by texture — soft, cream and processed at 1.6.1, hard and semi-hard at 1.6.2 — where Codex and the EU and GB divide it by ripening and process, so a named cheese lands in a different place in each. Cheese analogues are excluded here (Codex 01.6.5, EU and GB 1.8). Codex and Schedule 15 inherit from the parent cheese category downwards; the EU and GB do not.

What each system calls it

EU food categories

1.7 cheese and cheese products, 1.7.1 unripened cheese excluding products falling in category 16, 1.7.2 ripened cheese, 1.7.3 edible cheese rind, 1.7.4 whey cheese, 1.7.5 processed cheese, 1.7.6 cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16) — 250 additives

Great Britain food categories

1.7 Cheese and cheese products, 1.7.1 Unripened cheese excluding products falling in category 16, 1.7.2 Ripened cheese, 1.7.3 Edible cheese rind, 1.7.4 Whey cheese, 1.7.5 Processed cheese, 1.7.6 Cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16) — 256 additives

Codex food categories

01.6 Cheese and analogues, 01.6.1 Unripened cheese, 01.6.2 Ripened cheese, 01.6.3 Whey cheese, 01.6.4 Processed cheese, 01.6.6 Whey protein cheese, 01.6.2.1 Ripened cheese, includes rind, 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese, 01.6.2.3 Cheese powder (for reconstitution; e.g. for cheese sauces), 01.6.4.1 Plain processed cheese, 01.6.4.2 Flavoured processed cheese, including containing fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. — 108 additives

Australia and New Zealand food categories

1.6 Cheese and cheese products, 1.6.1 Soft cheese, cream cheese and processed cheese, 1.6.2 Hard cheese and semi-hard cheese, 1.6.1.1 Mozzarella cheese — 269 additives

Canada, Japan, South Korea and the United States are not here. Canada writes its permissions against foods named in prose, Japan's and South Korea's standards of use name foods in their own language rather than by a category code, and the US permits most substances for use in food generally rather than by category. Their pages carry what this site holds.

Where they differ

• 2 permitted by EU and not by GB
• 179 permitted by EU and not by Codex
• 71 permitted by EU and not by ANZ
• 8 permitted by GB and not by EU
• 182 permitted by GB and not by Codex
• 70 permitted by GB and not by ANZ
• 37 permitted by Codex and not by EU
• 34 permitted by Codex and not by GB
• 37 permitted by Codex and not by ANZ
• 90 permitted by ANZ and not by EU
• 83 permitted by ANZ and not by GB
• 198 permitted by ANZ and not by Codex

A difference is not a disagreement about safety. A regulator may permit a substance in a neighbouring category, regulate it under another instrument, or simply never have been asked. Open an additive to see what each regulator actually says.

Where the ceilings differ

Permitting a substance and permitting the same amount of it are different questions. These are the additives in this group whose most permissive figure differs by a factor of four or more between systems. The category each figure comes from is shown, because a group maps to several categories in each system and the most permissive figure often belongs to one narrow food inside it. See how much is permitted.

• Annatto extracts, bixin-based

  • EU20 mg/kg — 1.7.3 edible cheese rind
  • GB20 mg/kg — 1.7.3 Edible cheese rind
  • Codex100 mg/kg — 01.6.2.2 Rind of ripened cheese

• Potassium nitrate, Sodium nitrate

  • EU110 mg/kg — 1.7.2 ripened cheese
  • GB150 mg/kg — 1.7.6 Cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16)
  • Codex35 mg/kg — 01.6.2 Ripened cheese
  • ANZ50 mg/kg — 1.6 Cheese and cheese products

360 additives, side by side

● a permission this site matched to one of the categories above ○ none found there. Levels and conditions differ between them; each category page has the detail.