The Canadian Food Inspection Agency updated regulations for listing sulfur dioxide on food labels and will now require including the gas in the list of ingredients for fresh table grapes when used during storage and transportation. Sulfur dioxide is considered to be a food additive and sulphites must be declared on the list of ingredients, the USDA said in a report about the regulation.
The Canadian health agency made the decision to update its labeling requirements after completing an assessment of an industry stakeholder. The agency classifies the gas as a food additive when the gas is used during storage and transport of prepackaged fresh grapes, other than consumer pre-packaged (i.e. shipping or master containers).
For pre-packaged fresh table grapes for retail, the requirement to declare sulphites in the list of ingredients is based on the residual level present on the grapes at time of sale. Sulphites must be declared when the concentration on retail fresh grapes is 10 parts per million (ppm) or higher.
Canada currently does not have a regulatory definition for food processing aids. It unofficially defines the aid as a substance that is used for a technical effect in food processing or manufacture, when used, does not affect the intrinsic characteristics of the food, and that when used results in no or negligible residues of the substance or its by-products in or on the finished food.
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