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United States • Title 21 CFR • Part 174

Part 174PART 174—INDIRECT FOOD ADDITIVES: GENERAL

Part 174 outlines general provisions for indirect food additives, emphasizing good manufacturing practices (GMP) for substances used in food-contact articles. It details restrictions on additive quantity, purity requirements, and clarifies that regulations for indirect additives do not exempt them from other provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, nor do they imply safety as direct food additives. It also introduces the threshold of regulation for substances migrating into food at negligible levels.

What this part covers

  • Defines good manufacturing practice (GMP) for indirect food additives, including restrictions on quantity and purity.
  • Specifies that the quantity of an indirect food additive should not exceed what is reasonably required for its intended technical effect in the food-contact article.
  • Requires substances used in food-contact articles to be of a purity suitable for their intended use.
  • Clarifies that compliance with regulations for indirect food additives does not exempt them from other provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
  • States that regulations for indirect food additives do not imply their safety for use as direct food additives.
  • Lists categories of substances that may be safely used as components of food-contact articles under GMP, including GRAS substances, prior sanctioned substances, and those permitted by regulation or FCN.
  • Introduces the threshold of regulation process for substances migrating into food at negligible levels, allowing for exemption from food additive petitions.
  • References § 170.39 for criteria related to the threshold of regulation.

Sections in Part 174

§ 174.5

General provisions applicable to indirect food additives.

(a) Regulations prescribing conditions under which food additive substances may be safely used predicate usage under conditions of good manufacturing practice. For the purpose of this part and parts 175, 176, and 177 of this chapter, good manufacturing practice shall be defined to include the following restrictions: (1) The quantity of any food additive substance that may be added to food as a result of use in articles that contact food shall not exceed, where no limits are specified, that which results from use of the substance in an amount not more than reasonably required to accomplish the intended physical or technical effect in the food-contact article; shall not exceed any prescribed limitations; and shall not be intended to accomplish any physical or technical effect in the food itself, except as such may be permitted by regulations in parts 170 through 189 of this chapter. (2) Any substance used as a component of articles that contact food shall be of a purity suitable for its intended use. (b) The existence in the subchapter B of a regulation prescribing safe conditions for the use of a substance as an article or component of articles that contact food shall not be…

§ 174.6

Threshold of regulation for substances used in food-contact articles.

Substances used in food-contact articles (e.g., food-packaging or food-processing equipment) that migrate, or that may be expected to migrate, into food at negligible levels may be reviewed under § 170.39 of this chapter. The Food and Drug Administration will exempt substances whose uses it determines meet the criteria in § 170.39 of this chapter from regulation as food additives and, therefore, a food additive petition will not be required for the exempted use. [60 FR 36596, July 17, 1995]

Regulatory Context

This document sits within United States CFR and is most useful when linked to operational submission, quality, and inspection workflows.

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