In Indonesia, food additives are materials added to food to influence the nature and form of food, for example, to preserve food, to give food color, to prevent rancidity, or to enhance flavor. Food additives are generally chemical substances or natural substances that have been studied and tested for a long time according to existing scientific principles. This session, Global Foodmate will briefly introduce Indonesian food additives management requirements for your reference.

I. Indonesian Food Additives Regulatory Authorities

The Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) is responsible for the safety and quality management of processed food and food additives, the pre-market and post-market supervision of processed food and food additives, Specifically, it includes food additive safety assessment, formulation of food additive specifications and food additive safety limit requirements, food additive registration, and issuance of food additive import license.

II. Regulations on food additives in Indonesia

In Indonesia, food additives do not include flavor additives and processing aids. Food additives, processing aids and fragrances are regulated by separate regulations.

The requirements for the use of food additives are specified in the Food and Drug Administration Regulations, Regulations on Food Additives. The rules and regulations on fragrances and processing aids are based on the Regulations on Flavor Additives and their amendments and the Regulations on Processing Aids in Processed Foods and their amendments.

III. Functional category of Indonesian food additives

In Indonesia, the allowed use of food additives functional categories are: defoaming agent, emulsifier, colorant, thickener, filler, stabilizer, acidity regulator, etc, with a total of 27 kinds;

The allowed use of processing aids functional categories are: enzyme preparations, catalysts, clarifiers, microbial nutrition aids, cold storage and freezing contact material aids, extraction solvents, lubrication and non-stick aids, with a total of 16 categories.

There are 2032 flavor compounds allowed to be added to flavors, such as L-malate, rose alcohol, nerol, etc. A total of 453 natural aromatic ingredients and/or flavour-preparation sources are permitted, such as basil, osmanthus, clove, etc.

IV. Requirements for food additives in Indonesia

The food additives shall only be used in accordance with the purpose of the specified processing use and shall not be used to cover up or conceal non-conforming raw materials, spoiled food or in a manner contrary to food good manufacturing practice. Food additives not specified in the regulations need to be applied to BPOM in writing and approved before put into used.

Among them, the Regulations on Food Additives stipulate the requirements on the use of food additives, evaluation procedures, labeling and advertising requirements, and also stipulate the management requirements on the production, import and circulation of food additives. Annex I specifies the types of food additives that are allowed to be used, Annex II specifies the maximum limit for the use of food additives, Annex III specifies the principles of food additive introduction, and Annex IV specifies the maximum limit of food additive residue in special food.

V. Labeling requirements for food additives in Indonesia

The labeling of food additives in the ingredients list is in accordance with the Indonesian Processing Food Labeling Regulations of the Food and Drug Administration. There are different labeling requirements according to the functions of food additives. Generally, the functional category can be labeled, but the five categories such as sweeteners should be labeled with both functional name and food additive name. In particular, processed foods that contain certain types of food additives must also be labeled with a prescribed warning. For example, artificial sweeteners must be labeled with a prescribed warning about people who are not recommended to use them.

If the food additive is sold as a commodity, the function name, type name, applicable food type and safety limit regulations should be marked on the package.