New regulation of flavourings in certified organic products

An Ask the Expert feature with Flavex

“Giving aroma to organic products needs the addition of organic flavours in the future”
-Dr. K.W. Quirin, Flavex

On June 12, 2007, the agricultural ministers of the European Union have adopted a new regulation no. 334/2007 on organic production and labelling, which becomes effective on January 1, 2009. This will replace the well known organic regulation 2092/91/EEC and should originally be connected as well to the introduction of a new bio-logo replacing the old EU organic label. The new label is however delayed till January 1, 2010 since the intended one has been withdrawn after protest of a supermarket chain.

Here one aspect will be considered, namely the addition of flavourings to organic products. According to Annex VI only natural flavourings and flavour extracts, but no smoke flavours are allowed in organic products as long as they meet the flavour directive 88/388/EEC which is under revision as well. The flavour directive describes the production, declaration and quality of food flavours regulating for example the content of so called active principles and limiting contaminants like mycotoxins, heavy metals and so on. Beyond that there were no further restrictions in the past.

This means non-organic natural flavours were allowed so far in certified organic products. For example conventional herb and spice extracts which are mostly minor constituents in finished products could be used in certified organic food. Accordingly there was no real need and justification for organic herb and spice extracts for flavouring purposes before. Meanwhile a more restrictive view has been established. All components of flavour formulations must be certified organic and meet Annex VI of the EEC organic regulation. Clearly speaking giving aroma to organic products needs the addition of organic flavours in the future.

Since a bottleneck for certified organic spice extracts is expected based on the coming regulation, transitional periods will be conceded. However inspection bodies are already obliged to establish a timetable clearly demonstrating the date, from which organic flavours have to be used in organic products.

Supercritical CO2-extraction meets organic criteria and is perfectly suitable for herb and spice extracts. The versatile method can produce essential oils (selective extracts) as well as concretes (total extracts) under gentle conditions with high-grade authentic composition. CO2-extracts derived from botanical materials coming from organic farming are certified organic if the production is controlled by an organic auditing body.

FLAVEX Naturextrakte GmbH has already launched a broad range of certified organic CO 2-extracts. Sage and Rosemary Antioxidants retarding oxidation and having anti-microbial property at the same time are part of the organic program as well as herb and spice extracts of Allspice, Caraway, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Chili, Cumin, Ginger and Turmeric. Also certified Vanilla extracts are available with different vanillin content and other products from Cloves, Galangal, Peppermint and Star anise are coming soon as there is a general trend towards certified organic products. All these extracts are powerful tools for flavourists and food technologists to create premium flavour qualities.

In the food supplement segment we have recently successfully put on market CO 2-extracts of Seabuckthorn, Evening Primrose or Rosehip with high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids as well as specialty extracts of Amaranth, Millet and Pomegranate seeds.

Rounding up the program there is a newly launched organic Paprika CO 2-extract, which can also be used as colorant. Expand your organic products with exciting new flavours and colours composed of organic CO 2-extracts with their fresh and authentic flavour profiles.

Dr. K.-W. Quirin is chemist and received his PhD in 1984 from the University of Saarland, Institute of Pharmacognosy and Analytical Phytochemistry. He holds two scientific prizes and is author/co-author of some books and many articles. For the past 22 years, he has been working as CEO of FLAVEX Naturextrakte GmbH, a company producing specialty botanical extracts for cosmetics, food and food supplements on the base of supercritical CO 2-extraction.