Qingdao Tianya Chemical Co Ltd

CMC food grade is already a permitted food additive in Australia and New Zealand. Its use as an additive in wine has, however, not previously been assessed under the Code.

The hazard assessment considered the long history of safe use of CMC food grade as a food additive. At its last consideration, the 35th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) established an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of ‘not specified’ for CMC Food grade (WHO 1990). An ADI of ‘not specified’ is applicable to a substance of very low toxicity which, on the basis of the available data (chemical, biochemical, toxicological, and other) and the total daily intake of the substance arising from its use or uses at the levels necessary to achieve the desired effect, does not represent a hazard to health. In such cases, establishment of an ADI expressed in numerical form is not considered necessary.

FSANZ agrees with this assessment. Based on the maximum proposed use level stated in the Application (100 mg/L), a 750 mL bottle of wine will only contain a small amount (75 mg) of sodium CMC.