Can plant extracts be used as food ingredients? The information service center of the food partner network makes a brief introduction to plant extracts and lists the conditions allowed to be used in various relevant regulations for the reference.

Application and Supervision of Plant Extract in Food

At present, there are no uniform regulations on the use of plant extracts as food raw materials in China, and some substances are stipulated in different forms.
1. According to GB2760, some plant extracts can be used as food additives. According to their functions, they can be mainly divided into:

1) Antioxidants: rosemary extract; Tea polyphenols(also known as Victoria phenols); Licorice antioxidants; Bamboo leaf antioxidants.

2) Natural spices: lilac flower Bud tincture(extract); Chinese cinnamon tincture(extract); Tuluding(extract); Walnut shell extract; Coca fruit extract; Laurel leaf extract / oil resin; Ginger extract(ginger extract); White oak sawdust extract; Suhexiang extract; Cardamom extract; Soap bark extract; Ginger root extract; Spring Chrysanthemum Pure Oil(Extract)(Rome);  etc.
3) Colouring agent(natural pigment): chrysanthemum yellow extract; Tomato red; Citrus yellow; Black bean red; Black gallon red; Safflower yellow; Red and red; Peanut red; Curcumin; Caramel color; Golden cherry brown; Cocoa shell color; Pepper orange; Chili red; Chili oil resin; Landingguo; Radish red; Falling red; etc.
Of the more than 40 natural pigments that have been approved for use in China, only beet red, cranberry red, pepper red, caramel color, dense Mongolian yellow, radish red, black currant red, red currant yellow pigment, orange orange and other varieties are used in unlimited quantities. Can be added according to production needs. Most of the remaining varieties have maximum usage restrictions. Among them, the maximum usage of purple grass red is 0.1 g/kg, which is the same as the limit of synthetic pigment Rouge and new red; The maximum use of curcumin is set at 0.01 g/kg, which is one-tenth of the synthetic pigment sunset yellow and lemon yellow 0.1 g/kg.
4) Sweetener: Soma sweet; Styroside; Rohan fruit glycosides(Rohan fruit extract).

2. Saline algae and extracts, formerly the Ministry of Health's announcement on March 18, 2009, were approved as new resources foods(now known as new food raw materials).

3. The 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia stipulates rhubarb extract, rhubarb extract, ginseng total phenolic acid extract, tanshinone extract, licorice extract, North bean root extract, Angelica extract, hawthorn leaf extract, forsythia extract, Yuanzhi flow extract, thorn Wujia extract, Twenty-one items such as swollen wind extract, dried extract, ginger extract, benefit mother grass extract, Zhebei extract, Ginkgo biloba extract, Huangcen extract, belladonna extract, belladonna extract can be used as pharmaceutical raw materials.

4. The Chinese Chamber of Medical Health Products Import and Export Industry issued business standards for Ginkgo biloba extract, bilberry extract, ginseng extract, Tiger stick extract, snow grass extract, willow branch extract, and water fly thistle extract, but according to the functions of the Ministry of Commerce, It is not certain that these substances can be used as food raw materials. They are only applicable to the export of products to the EU market, the U.S. and Japan markets, etc., and more plant extract variety standards will be formulated in the future.

5. In the question and answer of the health food declaration of the health food review center of the state administration of food and medicine, it is pointed out that enterprises can purchase plant extracts as health food raw materials, but they should meet the corresponding requirements in the process of declaration and use. Many extracts involved in health foods lack national standards. The new "Food Safety Law" first proposed the "Catalogue of Health Food Raw Materials". After the establishment of this catalogue, it will play a normative role in the extract market, and consumers will have an authoritative basis for purchasing.
Based on the above analysis, the Food Partnership Network Information Service Center believes that plant extracts can be used as raw materials for health foods, but can not be used as raw materials for ordinary foods, subject to the relevant regulations and after registration and approval.