On March 11, 2021, Food and Drug Administration of Taiwan in accordance with the provisions of Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation published “Regulation for the Use Restrictions and Labeling Requirements of Astaxanthin Produced by Genetically Modified Escherichia coli strain Ast12 as a Food Ingredient”
The document highlights the following information for immediate implementation:
- Brief steps on manufacturing process such as fermentation to obtain astaxanthin-rich microbial biomasses, sterilization of the fermentation broth, centrifugation, drying etc.
- For use as a food ingredient, the astaxanthin produced by E. coli Ast12 shall comply with the following requirements:
- Specifications listed in the Appendix.
- The daily intake of the astaxanthin shall not exceed 2 mg.
- The container or external packaging of the astaxanthin produced by E. coli Ast12 shall display one of the following information: “The astaxanthin is produced by genetically modified microorganism” or “The astaxanthin is produced by genetically modified microorganism, but ultimately does not contain any genetically modified microorganism and its transgenes”
- The labelling of food products containing the astaxanthin produced by E. coli Ast12 shall contain the following warning statement: Children under twelve years old, pregnant women, lactating women and people taking drugs for hepatic or metabolic diseases shall avoid consuming.
The regulation is effective from March 11, 2021.
To view the regulation, check out the Food News Monitoring System.