The Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 29th January 2005.

Amendment of the Sweeteners in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

2.  The Sweeteners in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(1) shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 7.

3.—(1) In Regulation 2 (interpretation) paragraph (1) –

(a) in the definition of “Directive 94/35/EC” after “Directive 96/83/EC of the European Parliament and Council” there shall be inserted –

“and by Directive 2003/115/EC”(2);

(b) in the definition of “Directive 95/31/EC” after “Directive 2001/52/EC” there shall be inserted –

“and by Directive 2004/46/EC”(3); and

(c) for the definition of “permitted sweetener” there shall be substituted –

““permitted sweetener” means any sweetener specified in Column 2 of Schedule 1 which satisfies the specific purity criteria for that sweetener specified in the Annex to Directive 95/31/EC;”.

(2) In regulation 2 paragraph (2) –

(a) in sub-paragraph (c)(i) –

“and salt of aspartame-acesulfame”

shall be omitted; and

(b) in sub-paragraph (c)(ii) after “as the case may be” where those words first appear in that sub-paragraph, there shall be inserted –

“the maximum amount of free imide contained in the”.

4.  In regulation 3 (sale and use of sweeteners) –

(a) in paragraph (3) there shall be added at the end “as read with the notes to that Schedule”; and

(b) paragraph (5) shall be omitted.

5.  In regulation 4 (sale of table-top sweeteners) in paragraph (b)(iii) after “where it contains aspartame” there shall be inserted –

“or salt of aspartame – acesulfame”.

6.  In regulation 11 (transitional provision and exemption) after paragraph (1A) there shall be inserted –

“(1B) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations which allege a contravention of regulations 3, 4 or 5 it shall be a defence to prove that –

(a) the act was committed before 29th January 2006;

(b) the act was that of –

(i) selling a sweetener or food, or

(ii) using a sweetener in or on food,

which in either case was placed on the market before 29th July 2005; and

(c) the matter constituting the offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations if the amendments made by regulations 3(1)(a) or (c) or (2), or 4 to 7 of the Sweeteners in Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 had not been made when the act was committed.”.

7.  In Schedule 1 (permitted sweeteners and the foods in or which they may be used) –

(a) in the entries in Column 3 relating to “E951 Aspartame” after “Snacks”: certain flavours of ready to eat, prepacked, dry, savoury starch products and coated nuts” there shall be inserted in Column 3 –

• “Essoblaten”

and in the corresponding place in Column 4 there shall be inserted –

• “1000mg/kg”;

(b) in the entries relating to “E952 Cyclamic Acid and its Na and Ca salts” –

(i) in the entry under the heading “non-alcoholic drinks” relating to “Water-based flavoured drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar”, for the entry “400 mg/l” in Column 4 there shall be substituted –

• “250 mg/l”,

(ii) in the entry under that heading relating to “Milk and milk-derivative based or fruit juice-based energy- reduced or with no added sugar”, for the entry “400 mg/l” in Column 4 there shall be substituted –

• “250 mg/l”,

(iii) the entries listed in Columns 3 and 4 under the heading “Confectionery” shall be omitted, and

(iv) the entry in Columns 3 and 4 under the heading “Miscellaneous” relating to “Edible ices, energy-reduced or with no added sugar” shall be omitted;

(c) after the entries relating to “E954 Saccharin and its Na, K and Ca salts”, the following entries shall be inserted –

“E955	Sucralose	Non-alcoholic drinks
		– Water-based flavoured drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	300 mg/l
		– Milk and milk-derivative-based or fruit-juice-based drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	300 mg/l
		Desserts and similar products
		– Water-based flavoured desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Milk and milk-derivative-based preparations, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Fruit and vegetable-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Egg-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Cereal-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Breakfast cereals with a fibre content of more than 15% and containing at least 20% bran, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Fat-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		Confectionery
		– Confectionery with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg
		– Cocoa or dried-fruit based confectionery, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	800 mg/kg
		– Starch-based confectionery, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg
		– Cornets and wafers, for ice cream, with no added sugar	800 mg/kg
		– Breath freshening micro-sweets with no added sugar	2400 mg/kg
		– Strongly flavoured freshening throat pastilles with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg
		– Chewing gum with no added sugar	3000 mg/kg
		– Energy-reduced tablet form confectionery	200 mg/kg
		Miscellaneous
		– “Snacks”: certain flavours of ready to eat, pre-packed, dry, savoury starch products and coated nuts	200 mg/kg
		– Essoblaten	800 mg/kg
		– Cocoa, milk, dried fruit or fat-based sandwich spreads, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Cider and Perry	50 mg/l
		– Drinks consisting of a mixture of non-alcoholic drink and beer, cider, perry, spirits or wine	250 mg/l
		– Spirit drinks containing less than 15% alcohol by volume	250 mg/l
		– Alcohol-free beer or with an alcohol content not exceeding 1.2% vol	250 mg/l
		– Biere de table/Tafelbier/Table beer (original wort content less than 6% except for “Obergäriges Einfachbier”	250 mg/l
		– Beers with a minimum acidity of 30 milli-equivalents expressed as NaOH	250 mg/l
		– Brown beer of the “oud bruin” type	250 mg/l
		– Energy-reduced beer	10 mg/l
		– Edible ices, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	320 mg/kg
		– Canned or bottled fruit, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	400 mg/kg
		– Energy-reduced jams, jellies and marmalades	400 mg/kg
		– Energy-reduced fruit and vegetable preparations	400 mg/kg
		– Sweet-sour preserves of fruit and vegetables	180mg/kg
		– Feinkostsalat	140 mg/kg
		– Sweet-sour preserves and semi-preserves of fish and marinades of fish, crustaceans and molluscs	120 mg/kg
		– Energy-reduced soups	45 mg/l
		– Sauces	450 mg/kg
		– Mustard	140 mg/kg
		– Fine bakery products for special nutritional uses	700 mg/kg
		– Foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction as referred to in Directive 1996/8/EC	320 mg/kg
		– Dietary foods for special medical purposes as defined in Directive 1999/21/EC	400 mg/kg
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a liquid form	240 mg/l
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a solid form	800 mg/kg
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC based on vitamins and/or mineral elements and supplied in a syrup-type or chewable form	2400 mg/kg”

(d) after the entries relating to E959 Neohesperidine DC the following shall be inserted –

“E962	Salt of aspartame- acesulfame	Non-alcoholic drinks
		– Water-based flavoured drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/l(a)
		– Milk and milk-derivative-based or fruit-juice based drinks, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/l(a)
		Desserts and similar products
		– Water-based flavoured desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Milk and milk-derivative-based preparations, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Fruit and vegetable-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Egg-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Cereal-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Breakfast cereals with a fibre content of more than 15% and containing at least 20% bran, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg(b)
		– Fat-based desserts, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		Confectionery
		– Confectionery with no added sugar	500 mg/kg(a)
		– Cocoa or dried-fruit-based confectionery, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	500 mg/kg(a)
		– Starch-based confectionery, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg(a)
		– Breath freshening micro-sweets with no added sugar	2500 mg/kg(a)
		– Chewing gum with no added sugar	2000 mg/kg(a)
		Miscellaneous
		– “Snacks”: certain flavours of ready to eat, prepacked, dry, savoury starch products and coated nuts	500 mg/kg(b)
		– Essoblaten	1000 mg/kg(b)
		– Cocoa, milk, dried-fruit or fat-based sandwich spreads, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	1000 mg/kg(b)
		– Cider and perry	350 mg/l(a)
		– Drinks consisting of a mixture of a non-alcoholic drink and beer, cider, perry, spirits or wine	350 mg/l(a)
		– Spirit drinks containing less than 15% alcohol by volume	350 mg/l(a)
		– Alcohol-free beer or with an alcohol content not exceeding 1.2% vol	350 mg/l(a)
		– “Biere de table/Tafelbier/Table beer” (original wort content less than 6%) except for “Obergäriges Einfachbier”	350 mg/l(a)
		– Beers with a minimum acidity of 30 milli-equivalents expressed as NaOH	350 mg/l(a)
		– Brown beers of the “oud bruin” type	350 mg/l(a)
		– Energy-reduced beer	25 mg/l(b)
		– Edible ices, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	800 mg/kg(b)
		– Canned or bottled fruit, energy-reduced or with no added sugar	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Energy-reduced jams, jellies and marmalades	1000 mg/kg(b)
		– Energy-reduced fruit and vegetable preparations	350 mg/kg(a)
		– Sweet-sour preserves of fruit and vegetables	200 mg/kg(a)
		– Feinkostsalat	350 mg/kg(b)
		– Sweet-sour preserves and semi-preserves of fish and marinades of fish, crustaceans and molluscs	200 mg/kg(a)
		– Energy-reduced soups	110 mg/l(b)
		– Sauces	350 mg/kg(b)
		– Mustard	350 mg/kg(b)
		– Fine bakery products for special nutritional uses	1000 mg/kg(a)
		– Foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction as referred to in Directive 1996/8/EC	450 mg/kg(a)
		– Dietary foods for special medical purposes as defined in Directive 1999/21/EC	450 mg/kg(a)
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a liquid form	350 mg/l(a)
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a solid form	500 mg/kg(a)
		– Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC based on vitamins and/or mineral elements and supplied in a syrup-type or chewable form	2000 mg/kg(a)”

(e) the entries relating to Sucralose listed at the end of the Table in Columns 2 to 4 shall be omitted;

(f) for “Complete formulae for weight control intended to replace total daily food intake or an individual meal”, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted –

• “Foods intended for use in energy-restricted diets for weight reduction as referred to in Directive 96/8/EC”(4);

(g) for “Complete formulae and nutritional supplements for use under medical supervision”, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted –

• “Dietary foods for special medical purposes as defined in Directive 1999/21/EC”(5);

(h) for “Liquid food supplements/dietary integrators”, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted –

• “Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a liquid form”(6);

(i) for “Solid food supplements/dietary integrators”, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted –

• “Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC supplied in a solid form”;

(j) for “Food supplements/dietary integrators based on vitamins and/or mineral elements, syrup-type or chewable”, wherever they occur, there shall be substituted –

• “Food supplements as defined in Directive 2002/46/EC based on vitamins and/or mineral elements and supplied in a syrup-type or chewable form”; and

(k) after notes 1and 2 there shall be added –

“3.   The maximum usable doses in Column 4 relating to salt of aspartame-acesulfame are derived from the maximum usable doses for its constituent parts, aspartame (E951) and acesulfame-K (E950). The maximum usable doses for both aspartame (E951) and acesulfame-K (E950) are not to be exceeded by use of the salt of aspartame-acesulfame, either alone or in combination with E950 or E951.

4.   The maximum usable doses in Column 4 relating to E962 salt of aspartame-acesulfame are expressed either as (a) acesulfame-K equivalents or (b) aspartame equivalents.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on 20th January 2005.

L.S.

D. Kenny

A senior officer of the

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety