The Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003

• Citation: S.I. 2003/1182
• Sections: 3

Section 1 Title, commencement and extent

These Regulations may be cited as the Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003, shall come into force on 27th May 2003 and shall extend to England only.

Section 2 Amendments to the Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1995

(1) The Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1995 shall be amended, in so far as they extend to England, in accordance with the following paragraphs of this regulation.

(2) In paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) for the definition of “permitted sweetener” there is substituted the following definition—

“permitted sweetener” means the sweetener salt of aspartame–acesulfame so far as it satisfies the purity criteria for it set out at pages 19 to 21 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Compendium of Food Additives Specifications Addendum 8 (2000) FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 52 Addendum 8 and any sweetener specified in Column 2 of Schedule 1 which satisfies the specific purity criteria for that sweetener set out—

in the case of sucralose, at pages 119 to 124 of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Compendium of Food Additives Specifications Addendum 2 (1993) FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 52 Addendum 2; and

in the case of any sweetener other than sucralose, in the Annex to Directive 95/31/EC ;

(3) The following sub-paragraph is substituted for sub-paragraph (c) of regulation 2(3)—

(c) in column 4, the maximum usable dose indicated in relation to a food is—

(i) in the case of all permitted sweeteners except cyclamic acid and its Na and Ca salts, saccharin and its Na, K and Ca salts and salt of aspartame–acesulfame, the maximum amount, in milligrams, of permitted sweetener per kilogram or, as the case may be, per litre of that food which is ready to eat having been prepared according to any instructions for use, and

(ii) in the case of cyclamic acid and its Na and Ca salts and saccharin and its Na, K and Ca salts, the maximum amount of free acid contained in the cyclamic acid and its Na and Ca salts or, as the case may be, saccharin and its Na, K and Ca salts present in that food which is ready to eat having been prepared according to any instructions for use, measured in milligrams per kilogram or, as the case may be, per litre of the food.

(4) In paragraph (3) of regulation 3 (sale and use of sweeteners) the phrase “paragraphs (4) and (5)” is substituted for the phrase “paragraph (4)”.

(5) The following paragraph is inserted immediately after paragraph (4) of regulation 3—

(5) The prohibition on using aspartame and acesulfame K in or on any food which is imposed by virtue of paragraph (3) above shall apply equally in relation to the use of salt of aspartame–acesulfame in or on that food.

Section 3 Consequential amendments

(1) Paragraph (2) of regulation 4 (consequential amendments) of the Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2002 shall cease to have effect.

(2) In the provisions specified in paragraph (3), insofar as they extend to England, references to the Sweeteners in Food Regulations 1995 shall be construed as references to those Regulations as amended up to and including the amendments effected by these Regulations.

(3) The provisions are—

(a) the definition of “permitted sweetener” in paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) of the Jam and Similar Products Regulations 1981 ;

(b) the definition of “additive” in paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) of the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 ;

(c) the definition of “sweetener” in Part II of Schedule 1 (categories of food additives) to the Food Additives Labelling Regulations 1992 ;

(d) the definition of “sweetener” in paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) of the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995 ; and

(e) in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 —

(i) paragraph (1) of regulation 34 (foods containing sweeteners, added sugar and sweeteners, aspartame or polyols), and

(ii) in Schedule 8 (misleading descriptions) Part I (general), the condition in column 2 opposite the description “ice cream” in column 1.