Latest Quality and Purity Specifications for Food Ingredients Help Protect Consumers, Serve as Resource for Manufacturers

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, March 3, 2010 - New and updated quality standards for ingredients used in functional
foods and a host of other food products manufactured, sold and consumed every
day are included in the newly released seventh edition of the Food Chemicals
Codex (FCC). Published by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), the FCC is
an internationally recognized compendium of standards that helps ensure the
identity, quality, purity and consistency of food ingredients.

"The food industry is very innovative and competitive, with new
ingredients being introduced on a regular basis," said James Griffiths,
Ph.D., vice president of food, dietary supplement and excipient standards for
USP. "As new ingredients emerge, as pressures to keep food prices low
continue, and as the globalization of the industry persists, ensuring quality
can become very difficult. The Food Chemicals Codex is designed to serve as a
resource for the food industry, offering independently developed,
science-based standards defining the authenticity and quality of food
ingredients that both suppliers and food manufacturers find useful. These
standards provide suppliers with a means of demonstrating quality, and allow
manufacturers to have confidence that the ingredients they purchase are what
they claim to be, as opposed to a contaminated, adulterated, diluted or
otherwise inferior product. The ultimate beneficiary, of course, is the
consumer, who deserves a quality food product."

The latest FCC edition includes standards covering quality and purity for
1,100 food ingredients. These standards include the ingredient's chemical
formula, structure and weight; function and definition; impurity limits; and
packaging, storage and labeling information. In addition, FCC Seventh Edition
includes validated methods in 11 appendixes with step-by-step guidance to
analyze food ingredients and demonstrate their authenticity, quality and
purity. These appendixes cover Enzyme Assays, Essential Oils and Flavors,
Fats and Related Substances, Carbohydrates, and Flavor Chemicals, among
others.

New to the seventh edition is a comprehensive section featuring
additional information and industry guidances such as general current Good
Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) guidelines for food chemicals; a comparison of
cGMP elements for foods and drugs; and AOAC International/International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) guidelines on method validation.

The seventh edition of the FCC is published in print and online formats
and each is available as two-year subscriptions. The compendium is used by
finished food and beverage manufacturers, food chemical and ingredient
suppliers, food quality control professionals and regulatory bodies around
the world for managing supply chains, maintaining regulatory compliance and
conducting day-to-day business transactions as part of contracts between food
manufacturers and ingredient suppliers.

The FCC is the only food compendium in the world with quality standards
that cover the full range of possible food ingredients including colorings,
flavorings, nutrients, preservatives and processing aids.

For more information, visit www.usp.org/fcc.

Francine Pierson of U.S. Pharmacopeia, +1-301-816-8588, fp at usp.org