Direct addition of flavors, including taste and flavor modifiers

The addition of flavorings to food and beverages provides practically unlimited opportunities for innovation, for maintaining and enhancing palatability, and is one essential element of a stable supply of nutritious consumer products. A safety evaluation by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) Expert Panel provides a pathway for flavor producers and users to achieve regulatory authority to use for substances under the conditions of intended use as a flavoring. This chapter describes the factors that contribute to the safety assessment process that is conducted by the Expert Panel, and provides examples of specific flavorings and types of flavorings that are considered. The chapter also describes future issues and opportunities likely to be encountered within the context of the FEMA generally recognized as safe assessment of flavorings.