Interim Marketing Authoirzation to permit the immediate sale of enriched corn meal or foods containing enriched corn meal
Government Notices - Department of Health - Food and Drugs Act / Food and Drug Regulations Amendment
Provision currently exists in the Food and Drug Regulations for
the restoration of certain vitamins and mineral nutrients to milled
grain products such as flour, pasta and precooked rice; however, this
provision does not extend to corn meal. Health Canada has received a
request to permit the optional addition of vitamins and mineral
nutrients to corn meal at levels which are the same as those of the
United States.
An Interim Marketing Authorization (IMA) was
published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 29, 1997,
to permit the immediate sale of enriched corn meal or foods containing
enriched corn meal while the regulatory process to amend the Regulations
formally was undertaken. At the time of the publication of the above IMA,
the assessment of the safety of the maximum levels of calcium addition
that were requested by the petitioner was not complete. Therefore, as
an interim measure, the maximum level of calcium that could be added to
cornmeal, and that was specified in the IMA published on November 29,
1997, in the Canada Gazette, Part I, was left at the same level
as the minimum amount allowable.
Health Canada has now completed the safety assessment of the proposal
concerning the maximum level of calcium allowable in cornmeal.
Enrichment of corn meal remains in the public interest and is in
accordance with Health Canada's policy on restoration and
fortification of nutrients in foods and is consistent with theGeneral
Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients to Food published
in the Codex Alimentarius, under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards
Programme.
This amendment will benefit industry by establishing a range for calcium
to facilitate compliance with the requirements.
Therefore, it is the intention of Health Canada to amend Division 13 of
Part B of the Food and Drug Regulations to provide that:
(1) No person shall sell corn meal to which a vitamin or mineral
nutrient set out in column I of any item of the table to this section
has been added unless each 100 g of the corn meal contains the added
vitamin or mineral nutrient in an amount not less than the minimum
amount set out in column II of that item and not more than the maximum
amount set out in column III of that item.
(2) No person shall represent corn meal as "enriched" unless
the corn meal contains added thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid
and iron, in accordance with the table to this section.
TABLE
| |
Column I |
Column II |
Column III |
| Item |
Vitamin or Mineral Nutrient |
Amount per 100 g of Corn meal |
Amount per 100 g of Corn meal |
| 1. |
Thiamine |
0.44 mg |
0.66 mg |
| 2. |
Riboflavin |
0.26 mg |
0.40 mg |
| 3. |
Niacin |
3.5 mg |
5.3 mg |
| 4. |
Folic acid |
0.15 mg |
0.22 mg |
| 5. |
Iron |
2.9 mg |
5.7 mg |
| 6. |
Calcium |
110 mg |
165 mg |
This notice is, therefore, to advise the public of the intention to
promulgate an amendment to the Food and Drug Regulations to
permit the optional addition of vitamins and mineral nutrients to corn
meal at levels which are harmonized with those of the United States.
As a means to improve the responsiveness of the regulatory system while
enhancing the nutritional well-being of consumers, an Interim Marketing
Authorization(IMA) is being issued to permit the immediate sale of foods
containing enriched corn meal, at levels of fortification described
above, while the regulatory process to amend the Regulations formally is
undertaken.
April 17, 1998
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