The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has launched the new Substances Added to Food inventory, an upgraded version of the original Everything Added to Food in the US (EAFUS) inventory.
The new searchable inventory contains approximately 4,000 substances, and includes information on food additives, colour additives, Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) and prior-sanctioned substances.
The additional features include:
- A new search function that allows users to search multiple related food ingredient and packaging inventories;
- Direct links to any applicable regulations for a substance, and
- Additional information such as other known names, common uses and information by other entities when available
The Substances Added to Food inventory is maintained by the Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS) staff. OFAS staff, in the FDA’s Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), are responsible for protecting consumer health by ensuring the safety of substances added to food and food contact materials.
OFAS is FDA’s one-stop shop for questions about the safety of food ingredients, food contact substances (used in packaging and food processing equipment), sources of radiation used to treat food, and foods derived from bioengineered plants.
It is also the lead for FDA’s food additive and colour additive petition processes, the evaluation of GRAS notices, and the review of notifications for food contact substances.
OFAS maintains inventories and listings related to food ingredients, food additives, colour additives, GRAS substances, and packaging and food contact substances, many of which have been available on the FDA website since 1999.
It is important to note that the Substances Added to Food inventory is only a partial list of food ingredients and inclusion in this inventory of information from non-FDA entities does not indicate an FDA approval or evaluation of this use.
