Food additives in Codex Alimentarius
Codex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA
Codex is not a law and permits nothing. The Codex Alimentarius is a set of international standards adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which FAO and WHO run jointly; a country may adopt a standard, use it as a reference, or ignore it. It matters because national rules are often written against it and because it gives every additive an INS number that different countries' lists can be compared through.
The General Standard for Food Additives sets out which additives may be used in which food categories, and at what levels, for countries that follow it. Its food category system is the one most closely followed internationally, and a permission given for a category reaches the categories beneath it.
What this index holds
386 of the 1189 substances on this site carry a Codex Alimentarius entry, across 10,927 provisions. Last retrieved 2026-09-07 from Codex General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995), under FAO terms — non-commercial use with attribution. Conditions are given by food category, using the codex food categories of Codex General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995), Annex B.
- 363 permitted, with conditions
- 23 permitted
What is read, and what is not
Read:
- The General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192): Tables One, Two and Three, the food category system, the notes attached to provisions, and the INS numbers and functional classes.
Not read:
- Commodity standards for particular foods, which carry their own additive provisions.
What an empty row means
A page with no Codex row means the substance has no provision in the General Standard. That is a statement about an international reference standard, not about any country's law.
The instruments
Elsewhere
Compare Codex with another regulator on the comparison pages, or read how the whole index is built in the method.