Every substance in the recipe checked for authorisation, category permission, permitted level and correct declaration, in each market you sell into.
An ingredient and additive compliance review checks every component of a recipe against the rules of each market the product is sold in. It establishes whether each substance is authorised for that food category, whether the level used is within the permitted maximum, and whether it is declared correctly on the label. Authorisation is category specific and level specific, so an additive lawful in one food can be prohibited in another.
This is the layer underneath every label service. A label can be perfectly drafted for a product that cannot lawfully be sold, and a prohibited substance cannot be made lawful by declaring it accurately. Composition decides whether the product is viable and labelling describes it, which is why composition is checked first.
Every substance in the recipe assessed per market and per food category, including carriers and processing aids, with the correct declaration wording supplied. Delivered remotely, quoted on scope.
Each substance has to clear all eight in each market. Authorisation on its own settles very little.
| Check | What it establishes | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation status | Whether the substance is permitted for use in food in that market at all. | A substance authorised in one market and unapproved in another. |
| Food category permission | Whether it is authorised for the specific category your product falls into. | An additive lawful in beverages used in a confectionery product. |
| Maximum permitted level | Whether the level used sits within the limit for that category, including quantum satis where it applies. | A level carried over from a different product with a different limit. |
| Purity criteria | Whether the specific grade and specification of the substance meets the criteria required. | A technical grade material used where food grade specification is required. |
| Carry over rules | Whether an additive entering through a compound ingredient is permitted in the finished food. | An additive lawful in the ingredient and not in the product it ends up in. |
| Correct declaration | Whether the substance is named by its category and name or number as required. | An additive declared by trade name with no functional category given. |
| Novel status | Whether the ingredient has a consumption history in that market or requires authorisation before use. | A botanical or extract treated as ordinary when it needs novel food authorisation. |
| Category specific restrictions | Whether the product falls into a regime with its own compositional rules. | Supplement, infant or fortified food rules overlooked entirely. |
Eight routes to a noncompliant recipe. The last one is the most expensive, because it has no remedy once stock exists.
The ingredient specification you hold describes what you bought two years ago. Suppliers reformulate, change their own suppliers and substitute carriers, and the change reaches your product before it reaches your file.
Authorisation is category specific. A widely used additive can be permitted across most foods and prohibited in the one category your product falls into.
A level that was compliant in one product applied to another with a different category limit. The substance is the same and the permitted maximum is not.
Additives arrive inside other additives. Colour carriers, enzyme stabilisers and anticaking agents in a blend all count and are rarely on anyone's list.
Plant extracts, concentrates and preparations frequently need novel food authorisation or fall under restricted lists. Traditional use elsewhere does not transfer.
The substance is authorised and the grade purchased does not meet the purity criteria attached to the authorisation.
Additives declared by trade name, or by name without the functional category, or by number where the market requires otherwise.
The most expensive version, because a prohibited ingredient cannot be relabelled away once stock exists.
A position per substance and per market, with the calculation shown wherever a level is assessed.
| Element | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Ingredient register | Every ingredient, additive, carrier and processing aid in the recipe, listed individually. |
| Authorisation status | Per substance and per market, with the basis for each position. |
| Category permission | Whether each substance is permitted in the food category your product occupies. |
| Level assessment | The level used against the permitted maximum, with the calculation shown. |
| Purity criteria check | Whether the grade specified meets the criteria attached to the authorisation. |
| Carry over position | Additives entering through compound ingredients, assessed in the finished food. |
| Novel status flags | Any ingredient requiring authorisation before use, identified explicitly. |
| Correct declaration wording | How each substance must be named on the label in each market. |
Food and beverage manufacturers, food supplement companies, product developers and brand owners. It suits any business formulating new products, entering new markets, or relying on supplier blends whose full composition it has never assessed.
You are developing a new product and want composition cleared early.
A formulation has changed and nobody has reassessed the additives.
You are entering a market with different authorisation rules.
A supplier has reformulated a blend or changed a carrier.
You are using a botanical, extract or concentrate.
A customer or authority has queried an ingredient you use.
You are launching a food supplement or fortified product.
You inherited a recipe and cannot evidence that it is compliant.
You send full recipes with percentages, ingredient specifications, and the markets the product is sold into.
Every ingredient, additive, carrier and processing aid is listed individually, including those inside blends.
The food category the product occupies is established per market, since category governs everything after it.
Each substance is checked for authorisation in that category, and the level used is assessed against the permitted maximum.
Grades are checked against purity criteria, and additives entering through compound ingredients are assessed in the finished food.
The correct name and functional class for each substance is supplied per market, ready for the label.
Reformulation. Where a substance is not permitted or a level exceeds the maximum, the review states the position and the formulation work is yours.
Laboratory analysis and novel food authorisation dossiers. Where either is needed, the review says what is required.
The review works from the specifications you supply. Where those are out of date, the position rests on stale information and the review says so.
Every review is quoted against its own scope. A six ingredient recipe in one market and a supplement formulation with thirty components across four markets are very different pieces of work. These factors set the price.
These are the primary sources this work is built on. Where a market you sell into has its own requirement, that takes precedence and we assess against it.
It checks every component of a recipe against the rules of each market the product is sold in, covering whether each substance is authorised, whether it is permitted in your food category, whether the level used is within the maximum, whether the grade meets purity criteria, and whether it is declared correctly.
No, and this is one of the most common misunderstanding. Authorisation is category specific. A substance widely permitted across most foods can be prohibited in a particular category, and the permitted maximum frequently differs between categories where it is allowed.
It is a permitted level defined as no more than is necessary to achieve the intended technological effect, with no numerical maximum set. It is not a licence to use any quantity, and use has to remain proportionate to the purpose.
Yes. Additives arrive inside other additives, through colour carriers, enzyme stabilisers, anticaking agents in blends and similar. Each counts as a component of your product and each has its own authorisation position, and they are among the most frequently overlooked part of a recipe.
They are the specification an authorised substance must meet, covering identity and permitted impurities. A substance can be authorised while the particular grade you purchase fails to meet the criteria attached to that authorisation.
By whether it has significant consumption history in that market before the date the market's rules set. Botanicals, extracts, concentrates and preparations are the usual candidates, and traditional use in one part of the world does not establish status in another.
Generally by functional class followed by either the specific name or the number the market uses, though the required form differs. Declaring an additive by trade name alone is a common failure, since it tells the consumer nothing about what it does.
It happens frequently and it is why specification control matters. A review establishes the position from the specifications you hold, and where those are out of date the review says so, because a compliance position built on stale specifications is not a position.
No. Labelling addresses how a product is described. A substance not permitted in that market and that category cannot be made lawful by declaring it accurately. Reformulation is the only route, which is why composition is checked before artwork.
Yes, substantially. Permitted forms of vitamins and minerals, maximum levels, restricted botanicals and mandatory warnings all differ, and they differ between countries that otherwise share a regulatory framework.
A label review checks what the label says. This review checks what is in the product and whether it may lawfully be there. A label can be perfectly drafted for a product that cannot be sold, which is why composition is assessed separately.
An ingredient register covering every substance including carriers and processing aids, authorisation status per market, category permission, level assessment with the calculation shown, purity criteria checks, carry over positions, novel status flags and the correct declaration wording for each substance.
Confi Food assigns work by subject. HACCP, labelling, certification standards, regulatory compliance, supplier assurance and monitoring are separate disciplines, and each piece goes to someone who works in that area. Every deliverable is reviewed internally by a second specialist before it reaches you.
Our technical positions are built from primary sources, meaning the legislation, the competent authority, Codex Alimentarius, the certification scheme owner or the relevant standards body. We set out how that works in our technical review and editorial policy, and what happens at each stage of an engagement in how Confi Food works.
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