European food gas regulations (Nitrogen, 2019.07 updated)

Overview of existing Taiwan Specifications

In recent years, due to the recent occurrence of several black-hearted food incidents in Taiwan, especially after the oil of Dingxin Group has been exposed, it has caused widespread public anxiety about food safety issues, and for Taiwan food certification (such as GMP). Trust is even more utter. Although the Ministry of Economics has abolished the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in 2015 and subsequently reorganized it into TQF (Taiwan Quality Food), it is included in the raw material suppliers, channel operators, and consumer groups, aiming to establish a source of raw materials. Complete food manufacturing supervision from the beginning to the consumer’s hand.

However, TQF has been established for 4 years, and few consumers know it, not to mention whether it trusts such a certification system. The reason for this is that TQF regulates and certifies the “factory” and “single product” for the manufacture of raw materials and various processing processes; the former does not even pay attention to the certification of the consumer, and the number of the latter until It is still extremely rare. Therefore, it is reasonable for consumers to understand and believe in such a system

According to my experience in the food exhibition, there are many manufacturers who ask about the machine “What is food grade” and “What kind of specifications are met?” It shows that even if TQF is established for many years, there is still no trustworthy image in Taiwan. In addition to the above discussion, it is not possible to get consumers, but also because TQF does not target food gas. It can even be said that Taiwan does not currently have any standards or references for food gas to follow.

Overview of existing European regulations

Several organizations in Europe are related to gas, and nitrogen is no exception. The European Industrial Gas Association (EIGA) released a related document in 2011, summarizing three organizations:

European Commission ( EC ) ,

European Pharmacopoeia ( Ph. Eur. ) ,

Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives ( JECFA )

The minimum standard for food gas.

The abstract nitrogen section is now tabulated as the right:

Current European Food Nitrogen Specification Summary
European Commission (EC)European Pharmacopoeia
(Ph. Eur.)
Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives ( JECFA )
Assay (v/v)Minimun 99%above 99.5% above 99%
MoistureMaximun 0.05%below 67 vppm
Residual Gases: O2Maximun 1%below 50 vppmbelow 1%
carbon monoxide (CO)Maximun 10 vppmbelow 5 vppmbelow 10 vppm
Total HydrocarbonMaximun 100 vppm
Nitrogen monoxide/Nitrogen dioxide
(NO/NO2)
Maximun 10 vppm

EC has issued regulations since 2008(European Regulation 1333/2008 on Food Additives)

And after related gas standards (2008/84/EC),

It was revised twice in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

( 2009/10/EC、2010/67/EU)

Only the nitrogen part remained intact.

Even though Taiwan’s specifications for food gas and nitrogen are not yet complete, the author hopes that people in the industry will still have a bit of conscience, and spontaneously follow some existing standards in the world.