Elixens has reported an update in French regulatory and legislative developments for products deemed “organic” or “bio ab.” The European Community Regulation EC 834/2007, concerning the production and labeling of finished organic products, repealed the Regulation 2092/1991 and has been made law itself. It covers living and unprocessed agricultural products, processed agriculture products intended for human consumption, unprocessed animal feeding or compounds generated in keeping with principles of organic production and vegetative propagating matter and seeds used for cultivation. Additionlly, the new European Community Regulation EC 889/2008 deals with rules for implementing Regulation 834/2007. French National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) revised the guide to reading organic regulations, which was developed by the National Council of Organic Origin (CNAB).
Included in the new rules for the production of processed organic food are terms such as:
- Must be produced mainly from agricultural ingredients (excluding salt and water)
- Must only contain authorized products (additives, processing aids, vitamins, flavors and so on)
- May contain only non-agricultural accepted products
- No concomitant presence of organic ingredients with non-organic ingredients of the same origin
In labeling, for unprocessed agricultural products, all of the material must be composed of organic agricultural ingredients, unprocessed (such as fruits, salads plain or mixed); and for processed agricultural products, at least 95% of ingredients must be of agricultural origin, obtained by the organic production method.
Also ,flavorings may be subject to the biological legislation if they are made from substances from agriculture, if the manufacturing process complies with the NCE NCE 834/2007 and 889/2008, and if they are intended for human consumption.
To be certified organic, a food flavoring will be:
- a natural flavor complying to Article 16.2 of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008
- composed of at least 95% organic ingredients
- a flavoring exclusively of agricultural origin will be composed of at least 95% organic ingredients
- a flavoring will be composed of 5% maximum non-living natural ingredients, however, named in Annex IX of RCE 889/2008
- its production will conform to the general provisions of Regulation No. 889/2008 NCE
