Food regulation is changing faster than your team can track it.
FoodLex interprets food labelling, ingredient, allergen and additive rules across markets — and tells you what is coming next, while there is still time to act.
What happens when a rule changes without warning
Manual regulatory tracking creates systemic risk across a portfolio. These are the failure modes, in the order they usually arrive.
Forced relabelling
Emergency reformulation and label redesign, per SKU, when a regulation lands unannounced. Multiply across the portfolio.
Recalls & delistings
Non-compliant products come off shelves at once. Retailers delist brands that create compliance risk, and lost distribution is close to impossible to recover.
Export delays
Shipments held at customs, market entry blocked, and reputational damage once a compliance failure becomes public. The cost compounds across every market at once.
Why 2026–2028 is the turning point
Several jurisdictions are rewriting food labelling rules at the same time, and they are not converging.
- Additives under new scrutiny. Titanium dioxide banned in the EU. Red Dye No. 3 banned in California by 2027. Permitted federally in the US throughout.
- Front-of-pack mandates. Nutrition symbols become mandatory in Canada from 2026, with the EU consulting on its own scheme.
- US states breaking from federal standards. What ships legally in one state is restricted in another, fragmenting national supply chains.
- Post-Brexit UK divergence. UK rules no longer track EU rules automatically, so a single European label set no longer suffices.
- Digital disclosure. QR-code labelling shifts what regulators can audit, and raises enforcement exposure.
Waiting increases risk. At this volume and rate of change, manual tracking is no longer viable for a multi-market portfolio.
Ingredient status, by jurisdiction
A sample of the intelligence FoodLex maintains. The live service covers 1,500+ additives, allergens and processing aids across 50+ jurisdictions.
| Ingredient | Jurisdiction | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titanium dioxide (E171) | Global | Critical | Banned in the EU, permitted in the US. Reformulation required before export. |
| Red Dye No. 3 | USA — state level | High risk | Banned in California from 2027, permitted federally. Splits the supply chain. |
| Potassium bromate | India / UK | Restricted | Banned in the UK, EU and India; common in US baking. A hard export blocker. |
Coverage by market
United States FDA + state-level regulations
- FDA oversees federal food safety and labelling standards
- State-level divergence increasing - California against federal requirements
- Prop 65 warnings required for specific ingredients in California
- FSMA enforcement creating stricter preventive controls
- Red Dye No. 3 banned in California from 2027
European Union EFSA + Commission regulation
- Titanium dioxide (E171) banned as a food additive since 2022
- Front-of-pack nutrition labelling under active review
- Sustainability and green-claims disclosures arriving 2027
- Harmonised allergen declaration across member states
United Kingdom FSA, post-Brexit divergence
- Diverging from EU norms since Brexit - rules no longer track automatically
- Potassium bromate banned, as in the EU
- Separate approval pathway for novel foods and additives
- Precautionary allergen labelling guidance tightening
India FSSAI
- Potassium bromate banned in baked goods
- Front-of-pack labelling regulations progressing
- Distinct additive permissions from US and EU standards
- Import compliance checked at port, delaying non-conforming shipments
Canada CFIA + Health Canada
- Front-of-pack nutrition symbols mandatory from 2026
- Bilingual labelling requirements apply to all packaged goods
- Distinct permitted-additive list from the United States
- Supplemented-food framework introducing new categories
Informational only. Not legal advice — consult qualified regulatory counsel for compliance decisions.
What the service actually does
Four streams, delivered as one feed against your portfolio rather than as a document library you have to read.
Regulatory intelligence
Ingredient-to-regulation mapping across 50+ jurisdictions. Each additive, allergen and processing aid classified as allowed, warning or restricted against current enforcement.
Sensitivity risk
Beyond the nine major allergens. Trace contamination analysis, cross-contact scenarios and processing-level assessment for facilities running multiple product lines.
Portfolio analysis
Batch upload your SKUs with ingredient declarations. Receive red/amber/green risk scoring for each product across target markets, so exposure surfaces before it becomes a crisis.
Regulatory foresight
Monitoring proposed legislation through 2028. Bills tracked through committee, public comment and implementation timelines, so a rule change is never the first you hear of it.
Who this is for
Food & beverage brands
Multi-market portfolios requiring compliance across jurisdictions
Manufacturers & co-packers
Facilities managing ingredient sourcing and label compliance
Retailers & private label
Ensuring supplier compliance and managing delisting risk
Regulatory & compliance teams
Professionals managing cross-border product portfolios
Legal & risk functions
Teams assessing regulatory exposure across markets
Platforms integrating food data
Technology companies building regulatory data into their products
Export-focused organisations
Companies entering new markets and foreign regulatory regimes
And who it is not for
FoodLex is an enterprise intelligence service, not a consumer tool.
- Individual consumers seeking one-off label checks
- Single-product startups without multi-market distribution
- Organisations seeking legal counsel - consult qualified regulatory attorneys
Review your regulatory exposure
Tell us your markets and roughly how many SKUs you carry. We will review your requirements and recommend the appropriate intelligence tier.
Request an assessmentInclude your primary geography and portfolio size and we can come back with something specific.