New regulations to be introduced in US and EU on organic goods

Food and beverage brands in the US will have to check if their products are impacted by new regulation on organic certified flavors and determine if changes need to be made to maintain their certification.

As of December 27, 2019, organic certified flavors will be required in all organic food and beverage products, unless ‘the flavor is not commercially available as organic’.

Flavorchem, an established leader in the manufacturing of flavor, ingredients and color solutions, has taken on a proactive campaign to ensure customers understand the regulatory changes and are equipped with organic certified flavors.

Non-synthetic sources

The new regulation states ‘non-synthetic flavors’ may be used when organic flavors are not commercially available. The new regulation states: ‘All flavors must be derived from organic or non-synthetic sources only and must not be produced using synthetic solvents and carrier systems or any artificial preservative’.

Commercial availability is defined and governed by the organic certifying agent. Flavorchem says it encourages food and beverage brands to contact their organic certifier to find out what documentation they need to provide.

“We understand regulations can be confusing. We are here to guide our customers and help them explore their options, whether it’s time to reformulate to an organic certified flavor or determine if their flavor qualifies as not commercially available​,” said Ken Malinowski, Flavorchem president.

EU sets new rules for organic products and labeling 2020

As of January 1, 2020, there will be new EU rules on producing and labelling organic products. The existing legislation was revised and strengthened in all areas of the value chain: from organic farming, over production, certification of operators (producers, processors, distributors) to trade and control systems. In this way, the EU seeks to harmonise and simplify rules and to improve consumers’ confidence in organic products and in the EU’s organic production logo.

For organic shelf-stable products like biscuit, chocolate or cake, product managers should check all ingredients on the ingredient list on compliance. For example, if a biscuit contains fruit pieces, only organic or natural X flavourings in the fruit pieces are allowed.