Your Flavourist, the blog

Two new flavouring substances have just been authorised in the EU:
👉 Hesperetin dihydrochalcone
👉 3-[3-(2-isopropyl-5-methyl-cyclohexyl)-ureido]-butyric acid ethyl ester

These compounds act as taste modulators:

• sweetness enhancement

• bitterness masking

• salt reduction

• mouthfeel improvement

💡 Powerful tools for reformulation (low sugar, plant-based, etc.)

But there’s a catch. They come with strict maximum use levels, depending on the food category. Which means:
❗ flavourists must dose them precisely
❗ manufacturers must ensure finished products remain compliant

And when you multiply ingredients like these across formulations… complexity rises fast.

This is exactly where Flavour Manager helps:
✅ track regulatory limits
✅️ check compliance at product level
✅️ secure formulations from lab to market

Because today, it’s not just about creating great taste, it’s also about making sure it’s market-ready.

How are you planning to use these new ingredients?

📢 A new possibility for formulators in the EU.

Since November, quillaia extract (E999) can be used in flavourings under specific conditions. For both flavour houses and food & beverage manufacturers, this opens interesting formulation opportunities.

Quillaia extract is well known as a natural emulsifier and stabiliser. It can help disperse essential oils, improve emulsion stability, and support the formulation of clearer or more stable beverage systems — particularly where traditional emulsifiers are not desired.

But there is a regulatory twist 🤓

Maximum levels depend on the final food category, and the limits are expressed in saponins, not in quillaia extract itself. In practice, this means that the quantity of extract used in a flavour or a finished product must be converted into its saponin equivalent before checking compliance.

For teams working across multiple applications, these calculations can quickly become complex 🤯

This is exactly where Flavour Manager helps: structuring regulatory limits, handling the saponin conversion, and making it easier for both flavour creators and food manufacturers to assess compliance during formulation.

New ingredients create new possibilities — but they also require the right tools.

Curious to see how Flavour Manager manages regulatory complexity?

👉 https://flavourmanager.com

Regulation (EU) 1334/2008 has been updated: two new flavouring substances have been authorised, including naringenin (CAS 480-41-1). This is particularly interesting news for flavourists.

What is naringenin?

Naringenin is a natural flavonoid extracted from grapefruit, used for its taste-modulating properties. It is particularly appreciated for its ability to mask bitterness, making it an ingredient of choice for balancing complex profiles, particularly in functional drinks or plant-based products.

A precise regulation:

It is now authorised in the European Union, but with widely varying dosages depending on the category of foodstuff, ranging from 0 to 1000 mg/kg.

Flavour Manager makes it easy to comply:

✔️ Instant verification by category

✔️ Simulation of regulatory formulations

✔️ Up-to-date database of Regulation 1334/2008 (and other relevant regulation)

✨ Want to try Flavour Manager? Send us a message or book a demo here: https://flavourmanager.com/en/contact

It’s official: smoke flavourings will soon no longer be authorised in the EU. Here’s an update with Flavour Manager.

Smoke flavourings have been the subject of specific European regulations. Listed since 2013 in EU regulation 1321/2013, there are 10 of them, numbered SF-001 to SF-010. At the time, the EU provided for a 10-year authorisation, renewable on request, with restrictions on use by type of foodstuff that have not changed since.

At the beginning of 2024, at the end of the initial 10-year period, 8 of the 10 smoke flavourings listed had been the subject of renewal applications from their producers. The remaining two (SF-007 and SF-010) are therefore no longer authorised.

An EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) assessment of the 8 concluded that there was a risk of genotoxicity. On the basis of this assessment, the EU has decided to gradually ban all smoke flavourings authorised to date. The timescales for the ban take account of the diversity of uses of smoke flavourings, to allow enough time for users of these flavourings to change their manufacturing processes.

As a result, finished products containing smoke flavourings may be placed on the market until 1 July 2026. This date is extended to 1 July 2029 for products in food categories 1.7 (Cheese and cheese products), 8 (Meat), 9.2 (Processed fish and fish products, including molluscs and crustaceans) and 9.3 (Fish roe). The limit values for these flavourings in finished products, by food category, continue to apply.

In Flavour Manager, smoke flavourings SF-007 and SF-010 are already listed as prohibited. The bans by type of food will come into force in the database on the dates stipulated in the regulations (2026 and 2029). Finally, we will be contacting our users individually with a list of their flavourings containing smoke flavourings, to help them identify the changes they need to implement.

Don’t hesitate to contact Paul if you have any questions: paul@flavourmanager.com