EU Regulation 2026/196 Food Additive Rules For Gums And E 1450 Now Apply

The measure directly affects food additive suppliers and food manufacturers. Its most detailed controls focus on foods for infants, young children and special medical purposes.

The regulation was published on 29 January following European Food Safety Authority re-evaluations and calls for data. The application date is the new operational trigger. Businesses can no longer rely on the previous authorisations and specifications for newly placed additives or newly manufactured foods, except where a transition expressly applies.

EU Food Additive Rules Change Uses And Specifications

For milk-based drinks for young children, E 410, E 412, E 414 and E 415 are now authorised only in specified combinations and within a combined maximum. Individual limits include 300 mg/kg for E 407, 10,000 mg/kg for each of E 410, E 412, E 414 and E 415, and 5,000 mg/kg for E 440.

Where several are used together, their levels must be reduced proportionally so the combined maximum is not exceeded.

The regulation removes E 412 from infant formula and category 13.1.5.1 foods for special medical purposes intended for infants. In category 13.1.5.2, covering defined products for infants from four months and young children, E 412 remains permitted at 10,000 mg/kg only in liquid formulae containing hydrolysed proteins, peptides or amino acids until 27 April 2027.

E 410 remains permitted at 5,300 mg/kg only in products for reducing gastro-oesophageal reflux, while E 440 may be used at 4,000 mg/kg in products for gastrointestinal disorders. E 1450 may remain at 20,000 mg/kg for defined products until 18 February 2028, after which 10,000 mg/kg applies.

Specifications for several additives now include updated limits for toxic elements and microbiological criteria. A formulation can therefore remain within a numerical use level yet still fail food safety requirements if the supplied additive does not meet the revised specification.

Stock Transitions Require Evidence, Not Assumptions

Specified additives lawfully placed on the market before 18 August may continue to be added to food until stocks are exhausted. Foods containing qualifying pre-application additive stock may remain on sale until their minimum durability or use-by date.

Separately, non-compliant foods lawfully marketed before 18 August may continue to be marketed until their minimum durability or use-by date, with an 18 February 2028 eligibility cut-off for foods containing E 1450. Category-specific E 412 food transitions also apply.

The split between additive stock, food stock and time-limited product-specific permissions creates a traceability challenge. Manufacturers should be able to link purchase dates, batch specifications, formulation versions and finished-product release records rather than treating all warehouse inventory as grandfathered.

What Food Businesses Should Do Now

Suppliers should update specifications and certificates of analysis. Manufacturers should map affected recipes, validate combined-use calculations, separate qualifying transitional stock and update technical files, supplier declarations and release controls.

Importers should confirm that non-EU suppliers understand the EU application date and revised specifications. Laboratories should align methods and reporting with the new purity and microbiological criteria.

Summary

Regulation 2026/196 now changes how seven additives can be used and specified in the EU. Businesses should identify affected formulations, verify additive specifications and use conditions, and preserve clear evidence for any stock that relies on a transition.