ABOUT NATCOL  
WORKING GROUPS
membership
Whats New and publications
Defining Natural colours
what are natural colours
Home Page

As of 2009 NATCOL has been representing the interests of Natural Colours Manufacturers for 30 years.  The 35th AGM was held in May 2009 in Hamburg. After 30 years we consider it timely to define what natural colours are, so a new section on this site "Defining Natural Colour" aims to establish common definitions to help consumers make a fair and informed choice, based on clear and informative labelling.

jefca

Following on from the submission of information on Lycopene from Tomato by LycoRed Ltd. in response to the JECFA call for data for Tomato Lycopene as a food colour for the 71st meeting, the Summary Report has been published.  The Committee decided to revise the Group ADI, established for Lycopene (synthetic) and Lycopene from B. trispora at the 67th meeting and replace it with a Group ADI 'not specified' for Lycopene from all sources when used as food colour.  Hence the previous group ADI of 0 - 0.5 mg/kg for Lycopene has been withdrawn.
  
JEFCA71 Summary Report

The latest advances, legislation and developments in colour for diverse food and beverage applications.

Fi’s Innovations in Food Colour one day conference was held on March 31st to help ensure that those attending are fully equipped and able to access market demands for food colour both within and beyond Europe. This intensive one day conference was specifically designed for R&D, Product Development and Regulatory Colleagues who need to capitalise on the latest trends and innovations in food colour

See links below for presentations given by Olga Solomon, DG Sanco & Mary O'Callaghan, General Secretary NATCOL at the Innovations in Colours Conference on 31 March 2009

Update on the latest developments of the EU legislation on food additives related to the use of colours by the food and beverage industry

Global Regulations and Legislation related to the use of Colour


Balancing Cost Control, consumer demand and strategic operational development to survive economic uncertainty.

Fi Europe hosted Ingredients Source 2009 on May 19th in Amsterdam – an event structured to provide insight, market analysis and evaluation of the pioneering strategies for buying and sourcing professionals. Ingredients Source 2009 was dedicated to focus solely on the food and beverage sector’s ingredients sourcing strategies and the latest innovations that will significantly secure advantage in amongst today’s stiff competition.


Following on from the submission of information on Paprika Oleoresin by NATCOL in response to the JECFA call for data for Paprika Oleoresin as a food colour for the 69th meeting, the Summary Report has been published.  The Committee did not allocate an ADI but did allocate the name Paprika Extract for use as a food colour to differentiate it from Paprika Oleoresin for use as a spice.  New tentative specifications were prepared pending receipt of additional information on Paprika Extract as a food colour; including concentrations of capsaicin and additional information about the composition of commercial batches produced by a variety of manufacturers. These requirements are outlined in Annex 2 of the Summary Report,  Page 16.  The new tentative specifications for Paprika Extract prepared at the 69th meeting have now been uploaded in the on-line version of the Combined Compendium of Food Additive Specifications and are available at:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/jecfa-additives/search.html

 


NATCOL25 YEARS

Following on the EFSA call for data in December 2006 (see attached pdf) as part of the Re-evaluation of Food Colours, NATCOL in conjunction with EUTECA, CEFIC and FAIA submitted dossiers on all the colours listed by EFSA to meet the 31 March 2007 deadline.  In addition, NATCOL co-ordinated (in conjunction with EUTECA & CEFIC) a comprehensive Intake Study for a number of the Colours, which was submitted to EFSA during 2007.  

 


Three pigments of direct interest to NATCOL members were evaluated at the 67th JECFA; Annatto Extracts, Lycopene (synthetic) and Lycopene from Blakeslea trispora.  There were satisfactory evaluations for all three compounds.  Following on from the submission of information on the safety and composition of Annatto Extracts, as requested by JECFA in its call for data for the 67th meeting, two permanent ADIs were established; one for Bixin and a Group ADI for Norbixin.  In addition, on page 8 of the Summary report, you will see in Annex 2 - Further Information Required that there are notes on Annatto Extracts (Oil Processed).    A Group ADI was established for Lycopene (synthetic) to include lycopene from B. trispora.
 

NATCOL25 YEARS

EFSA has awarded the service contract concerning the preparation of Summary Documents/Reports including toxicity and non-toxicity data, to be used in the re-evaluation of the currently permitted natural colours for re-evaluation by the EFSA AFC Panel.   The contract has been awarded to: 
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu —
Centre for Substances and Integrated Risk Assessment,
A. Van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3720 BA Bilthoven, Netherlands.
E-mail: info@rivm.nl. URL: www.rivm.nl.

Please find below the link to the publication of the contract award to tender for natural colours: http://www.efsa.eu.int/opportunities/procurement/calls_tender/completed/724_en.html




The 4th International Congress on Pigments in Food took place in Stuttgard-Hohenheim 9-12 October 2006.  Starting in 1999 in Sevilla (Spain) with the 1st congress called "Pigments in Food Technology", the Pigments in Food Congress-series has been continued successfully, 2002 in Lisbon (Portugal; "Functionalities of Pigments in Food") and 2004 in Quimper (France; "Pigments in Food - more than colours ...").

In 2006 the fourth congress ("Pigments - A Challenge to Life Sciences") will be hosted by the Plant Foodstuff Technology Section of the Institute of Food Technology at HohenheimUniversity (Germany).

More information is available on the link: http://pigmentsinfood2006.uni-hohenheim.de/ 


 

4th International Workshop on Anthocyanins was held in Rotorua, New Zealand 14-17th February 2006.  The conference proceedings are available on the following link:
 
http://www.crop.cri.nz/home/conferences/iwa2006/index.jsp 
 

Click here to access the NATCOL powerpoint presentation