Emilia-Romagna: Phosphate food additives return to the agenda of the European Food Safety Authority this week, when its Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings holds its 69th plenary meeting in Parma from 13 to 15 October 2026. The panel will discuss an updated dietary exposure assessment and amendments to the specifications for the additives, a step that could shape how regulators view their use in everyday foods.
The item is scheduled for 14 October and covers phosphoric acid and its phosphates, listed in EU law as E 338 to E 341, E 343 and E 450 to E 452. The agency’s earlier work on the group already set the benchmark. In 2019 it established a group acceptable daily intake of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, which equals 2.8 grams of phosphorus a day for an average 70 kilogram adult.
That 2019 opinion also raised a warning. The agency found that infants, toddlers and children with average consumption could exceed the safe level, as could adolescents with diets high in phosphates and people over three who regularly take food supplements containing phosphate additives. The intake limit does not apply to people with moderate to severe reduced kidney function.
The agency estimated then that additives contribute between 6 and 30 percent of average total phosphorus intake, with permitted maximum levels in food ranging from 500 to 20,000 milligrams per kilogram depending on the product. It also recommended replacing the open-ended quantum satis rule for food supplements with numerical limits. Whether the new exposure work changes those findings has not been announced.
The meeting papers show only the schedule for phosphate food additives, not the conclusions. The agency lists the exposure assessment under reference EFSA-Q-2025-00362, and the working group had already placed phosphate food additives under follow-up of previously re-evaluated additives at the panel’s 67th plenary on 1 and 2 July. The panel has not published a draft opinion, and any result would still pass through the usual adoption and publication steps.
The agenda carries other food safety items. On 13 October the panel considers a safety opinion on a polyphenol-rich extract proposed as a food additive. On 14 October it also discusses an application to authorise the bacteriophage Listex P100 as a new food additive. The chair of the panel is Laurence Castle.
The agency has been active on additives in recent weeks. On 10 September it concluded that the salt of aspartame-acesulfame is safe at current exposure levels. That decision shows how its panels move from scientific opinion to the evidence that the European Commission and Member States use for risk management.
Food producers, public health groups and consumer organisations will watch the outcome on phosphate food additives closely. Manufacturers use phosphate food additives for texture, moisture retention and shelf life, and any tighter limit would require reformulation. Health groups have long pressed for lower exposure among children.
The scientific opinion will not change the law on its own, because the Commission and Member States decide on any amendment to permitted uses. Even so, the new exposure estimates will give them a fresh evidence base. For now, phosphate food additives remain authorised under the existing conditions.
