Swiss Amend Annexes to Food Additive Ordinance

The Swiss Food Safety and Veterinary Office issued an amendment to the Ordinance of 25 November 2013 on Permitted Additives in Foodstuffs (better known as the Food Additives Ordinance (ZuV)) on 22 February 2022. The amendment makes select changes to the annexes to the ordinance, primarily serving to remove entries permitting the use of titanium dioxide as a food additive.

3E Review

The amendment removes several entries related to titanium dioxide from the annexes of the ordinance, specifically in Annexes 1a, 2, and 3. This change likely comes in response or in conjunction with the European Union's (EU) decision to ban the use of titanium dioxide in foodstuffs. This decision was actualized on 18 January 2022 through Regulation 2022/63/EU as Regards the Food Additive Titanium Dioxide (E 171) and will come into force this summer.

The amendment to the Food Additives Ordinance also modifies an entry for potassium aluminum silicate in Annex 5, Part 1 on permitted carrier substances in food additives.

The amendment to the Food Additives Ordinance comes into force in Switzerland on 14 March 2022. However, the amendment allows a transition period through 14 September 2022 for foodstuffs that comply with the previous regulatory provisions of this legislation.

3E Analysis

As Switzerland is not an EU member state, food producers that utilize food additives in their products and wish to place their products on the Swiss market are obliged to observe the specific requirements for food additive use set out in this and related Swiss legislation. While Switzerland has moved toward harmonizing its food safety legislation with that of the EU, it still maintains its own specific regulatory requirements, which may differ from EU legislation.