Additives permitted in chocolate and sweets

Chocolate, cocoa products, boiled and soft sweets, nougat and marzipan, and the icings, decorations and sweet toppings used on them.

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 agree on roughly this group of foods but cut it up differently. Chocolate and sugar confectionery are kept in one group because the systems draw the line between them differently: the EU's and GB's 5.1 reaches only cocoa and chocolate products as defined by Directive 2000/36/EC, so imitation chocolate falls out of it into 5.2, while Codex gives imitations their own code at 05.1.5. Decorations, coatings and sweet toppings are included (Codex 05.4, EU and GB 5.4, Schedule 15 5.4 icings and frostings). Schedule 15's 5.0.1 is a single product, fruit filling for confectionery containing at least 200 g/kg of fruit. Chewing gum is a separate group.

What each system calls it

EU food categories

5.1 Cocoa and chocolate products as covered by Directive 2000/36/EC, 5.2 Other confectionery including breath freshening micro-sweets, 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4 — 320 additives

Great Britain food categories

5.1 Cocoa and chocolate products as covered by Directive 2000/36/EC, 5.2 Other confectionery including breath refreshening microsweets, 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4 — 331 additives

Codex food categories

05.1 Cocoa products and chocolate products including imitations and chocolate substitutes, 05.1.1 Cocoa mixes (powders) and cocoa mass/cake, 05.1.2 Cocoa mixes (syrups), 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings, 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products, 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products, 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4, 05.2.1 Hard candy, 05.2.2 Soft candy, 05.2.3 Nougats and marzipans, 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces — 138 additives

Australia and New Zealand food categories

5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products, 5.2 Sugar confectionery, 5.0.1 Fruit filling for confectionery containing not less than 200 g/kg of fruit, 5.4 Icings and frostings — 270 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

• 4 permitted by EU and not by GB
• 221 permitted by EU and not by Codex
• 115 permitted by EU and not by ANZ
• 15 permitted by GB and not by EU
• 223 permitted by GB and not by Codex
• 113 permitted by GB and not by ANZ
• 39 permitted by Codex and not by EU
• 30 permitted by Codex and not by GB
• 57 permitted by Codex and not by ANZ
• 65 permitted by ANZ and not by EU
• 52 permitted by ANZ and not by GB
• 189 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.

• FD&C Red No. 3

  • Codex100 mg/kg — 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces
  • ANZ2 mg/kg — 5.4 Icings and frostings

• FD&C Yellow No. 6

  • EU35 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex400 mg/kg — 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Carnauba wax

  • EU500 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex5,000 mg/kg — 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Propylene glycol esters of fatty acids

  • EU5,000 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex40,000 mg/kg — 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces
  • ANZ4,000 mg/kg — 5.1 Chocolate and cocoa products
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Propylene glycol alginate

  • EU1,500 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex10,000 mg/kg — 05.1.3 Cocoa-based spreads, incl. fillings
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Ponceau 4R (Cochineal red A)

  • EU55 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex300 mg/kg — 05.1.4 Cocoa and chocolate products
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Neotame

  • EU65 mg/kg — 5.2 Other confectionery including breath freshening micro-sweets
  • Codex330 mg/kg — 05.2 Confectionery including hard and soft candy, nougats, etc. other than food categories 05.1, 05.3, and 05.4
  • GBstates several limits in one listing; not reduced to a figure

• Extracts of rosemary

  • EU100 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • GB100 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • ANZ20 mg/kg — 5.4 Icings and frostings

• Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate, Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monopalmitate

  • EU1,000 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • GB1,000 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex5,000 mg/kg — 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products

• Polysorbate 60, Polysorbate 65, Polysorbate 80

  • EU1,000 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit-based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • GB1,000 mg/kg — 5.4 Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4
  • Codex5,000 mg/kg — 05.1.5 Imitation chocolate, chocolate substitute products

• Tartaric acid

  • EU25,000 mg/kg — 5.2 Other confectionery including breath freshening micro-sweets
  • GB5,000 mg/kg — 5.1 Cocoa and chocolate products as covered by Directive 2000/36/EC
  • Codex8,000 mg/kg — 05.4 Decorations (e.g. for fine bakery wares), toppings (non-fruit), and sweet sauces

407 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.