Food additives are substances added intentionally to foodstuffs to perform certain technological functions, for example to colour, to sweeten or to preserve.

Food additives are defined in Community legislation as "any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose results in it or its by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods". (for full definition see: Article 1(2) of Directive 89/107/EEC ).

Food additives are authorised at EU level for all the fifteen Member States, as well as for Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

SCADPlus : Legislation on general scheme;

SCADPlus : Legislation on authorised colourants;

SCADPlus : Legislation on authorised colouring matters;

SCADPlus : Legislation on authorised sweetners;

SCADPlus : Legislation on other authorised additives;

SCADPlus : Legislation on specific purity criteria for emulsifiers, stabilisers, thickeners and gelling agents;

SCADPlus : Legislation on verification of purity criteria for certain authorised additives.