Antioxidant Rosemary Extracts Now Permitted EU Organic Food Products

The use of antioxidant rosemary extracts in organic food products is now permitted with the publication of the European Regulation 344/2011/EU. Naturex welcomes this new step in which the company has been a key influence and a driving force in the approval process.

4/22/2011 --- Rosemary extracts have been used by the food industry for several years in order to extend the shelf life of products. Naturex initiated the registration process of rosemary extracts as EU-approved food antioxidants in 1996, their official adoption into the EU followed in October 2010.

Naturex has been working continuously to extend their permitted use to organic foods in order to answer the demand of manufacturers for technological ingredients in line with their production guidelines.

The organic legislation usually tends to limit the possibility to use food additives because many of them are chemically based. Since rosemary extracts are of a natural origin and can be of an organic-certified form, the EU has permitted the use of rosemary extracts in organic foods.

For the first time in the history of the European organic regulations, a food additive - antioxidant rosemary extract - is allowed in organic products solely in its certified organic version, as specified by the European Regulation 344/2011/EU. The regulation specifies that antioxidant rosemary extracts can be used in organic food processing “only when derived from organic production and if only ethanol is used for the extraction”.

Despite the fact that rosemary extracts were already popular as antioxidant solutions in organic products, a number of producers was still waiting for an official implementation of the regulation clarifying their conditions of use. Consequently, the use of antioxidants rosemary extracts is likely to grow very strongly in this market.

Supplier Naturex notes that since it was able to anticipate the evolution of the European regulation, its organic rosemary extracts are already in line with these new requirements.