Lactic acid in mozzarella? The lawyer Dario Dongo responds

Dear Dario,

I present to you the case of the use of lactic acid in the production process of the food 'mozzarella'. Is it possible to qualify it as a 'technological adjuvant' and take advantage of the exemption provided for the mandatory indication in the list of ingredients on the label? And if so, under what conditions?

Thanks as always, Patrizia

The lawyer Dario Dongo, Ph.D. in Agri-Food Systems, answers

Food Information Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 establishes the general rules for information relating to food products. Mandatory food information includes 'information on the identity and composition, properties or other characteristics of the food'.

1) Lactic acid, conditions of use as a food additive

Lactic acid (E 270) is present in the list of food additives authorized pursuant to the reg. (EU) 1129/2011, for mozzarella, quantum satis.

Purity requirements stable for E 270 in an 80% aqueous solution are:

– sulphated ash, ≤ 0,1%
– chlorides, ≤ 0,2%
– sulfates, ≤ 0,25%
– iron, ≤ 10 mg/kg
– arsenic, ≤ 3 mg/kg
– lead: ≤ 2 mg/kg
– mercury, ≤ 1 mg/kg.

2) Technological adjuvants

Technological aids they qualify as all substances not intended for direct food consumption:

- used 'in the transformation of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to exercise a specific technological function in the processing or transformation ', that

- may 'give rise to the presence, unintentional but technically unavoidable, of residues' (including their derivatives) in the final product, 'provided that these residues do not constitute a health risk and have no technological effects on the finished product'. (1)

Food additives used as technological aids - in compliance with the relevant regulations (2) - are not subject to mandatory indication in the list of ingredients or on the label of the final product. Without prejudice to the duty to specify the possible presence of allergens, pursuant to the reg. (EU) 1169/11, Annex 2.

3) Labeling of mozzarella

The use of lactic acid as a 'technological adjuvant', under the conditions set out above, it excludes classification as a 'food ingredient' or as a food additive.

The same goes for residues of lactic acid that possibly remain in the food, also following the use of microbial cultures (or starter cultures).

4) Conclusions

The use of lactic acid (E 270) in the production process in question and its classification as a 'technological adjuvant' are fully legal, and consequently it is not mandatory to include this substance in the list of ingredients on the label. Even where intentionally added lactic acid is present, as a technically unavoidable residue.

Concentration of 'lactic acid' in the form of residues, in the finished product, essentially derives from the metabolic activity of the starter cultures, which break down the lactose and metabolize it into lactic acid. Furthermore, the products obtained by mixed fermentation do not present significant differences compared to conventional ones.

Cordially

Dario

Footnotes

(1) Reg. (EC) 1333/08 'relating to food additives', art. 3.2.b. See the previous article 'Adjuvants or additives on the label? The lawyer Dario Dongo responds'. DO (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 2.3.19

(2) Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 of 9 March 2012 laying down specifications for food additives listed in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council Text with EEA relevance https://tinyurl.com/mr2kff3x