Israel Adopts New EU Food Additive Rules for Gums from Oct. 18, 2026

Israel has issued multiple public health protection notices updating food additive specifications and microbiological criteria to align national regulations with EU Regulation 1333/2008 and Regulation 2073/2005.

Israel’s Ministry of Health told the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Oct. 5, 2026 that it will copy recent European Union food additive changes.

The ministry sent two revised notices that day. One changes how food additives may be used in foods. The other changes the purity and identity rules that the additives themselves must meet¹.

In short, food sold in Israel will have to follow the same additive rules as food sold in the European Union (EU). A product that meets the newest EU additive rules should also meet Israel’s, and older recipes may need checking.

What did Israel’s Ministry of Health announce?

The first notice is the Public Health Protection Notice (Food) on Regulation 1333/2008, the EU law that lists which food additives may be used and in which foods². Food additives are substances added to food for a technical reason, such as preservatives, sweeteners and thickeners.

The second notice covers Regulation 231/2012. This EU law sets the specifications of each additive: its definition, description and purity¹. Both notices were issued by the Health Regulation Directorate (Food, Alcoholic Beverages and Cosmetics) of the Ministry of Health.

Both are revised versions of earlier drafts. The WTO numbers them G/SPS/N/ISR/14/Rev.2 and G/SPS/N/ISR/13/Rev.1². Both apply to all trading partners, so every country that ships food to Israel is affected¹.

Why does Israel follow EU additive rules?

Israel adopted the EU additive law as part of Amendment No. 10 to its Public Health Protection (Food) Law of 2015². The law lists the EU regulation in Item 8 of Appendix II A. Israel applied Regulation 1333/2008 in full, with some exceptions written into Section 3A of its own law.

When the EU changes the rule, Israel publishes a notice in its official gazette, called Reshumot, to bring in the same change². The latest such notice on additive uses was published on April 21, 2026. After it, the Food Service website carried a combined text matching the EU law as it stood on Nov. 9, 2025.

The specifications rule follows the same path. Israel adopted Regulation 231/2012 under the same amendment, in Item 9 of Appendix II A¹. Its latest combined text matches EU law as it stood on Oct. 27, 2025.

The ministry gives one reason for both notices: food safety¹. It says no international standard from the Codex Alimentarius, the global food standards body, applies to these changes.

How will the change work?

Israel plans to take the EU changes "without modifications, conditions, exceptions, or expansions"². That means the Israeli text will read the same as the EU text for each change.

The process has several steps:

1. The EU adopts a change to its additive law.
2. Israel’s Ministry of Health notifies the WTO and invites comments.
3. The ministry publishes a notice in Reshumot.
4. The Food Service posts an updated combined text on its website.

For the specifications rule, one Israeli extension stays in place. This extension, in column C of Item 9 of Appendix II A, will keep applying to the new changes¹. The ministry has not yet set the dates of adoption or publication².

Which additives change in what foods?

The notice on additive uses combines 13 EU regulations². Together they change which additives may go into which foods, and in what amounts. Among the main changes:

• Tartaric acid and tartrates (E 334 to E 337 and E 354): 41 changes to entries in various food categories, plus five changes in the list of carriers and other uses².
• Sorbic acid and potassium sorbate (E 200 to E 202), two preservatives: a level of 1,000 mg/kg in three desserts (frugtgrød, rote Grütze and pasha), and a new use in plant-based mousses that are not heat-treated.
• Powdered cellulose and glucono-delta-lactone (E 460 and E 575): new entries for cheese products.
• Glazing agents on fresh fruit and cassava: new entries for mono- and diglycerides (E 471) and carnauba wax (E 903).
• Stevia sweeteners made by fermentation (E 960b): a new entry in the sweetener list.

Other changes touch foods for babies and patients. Cellulose gum (E 466) is removed from foods for special medical purposes for infants and young children². The rule on sodium ascorbate (E 301) in vitamin A mixes for infant formula is replaced.

What changes for thickeners and gums?

The last EU regulation in the notice, Regulation 2026/196, covers common thickeners². They are carrageenan (E 407), locust bean gum (E 410), guar gum (E 412), gum arabic (E 414), xanthan gum (E 415) and pectins (E 440). Starch sodium octenyl succinate (E 1450), a modified starch, is also covered.

The changes rewrite entries in food category 01.10 and in several categories of food for infants and patients. Guar gum is removed from food category 13.1.1².

The notice also brings in the EU rules on foods for particular nutritional uses, Regulation 2025/2058². It rewrites the titles and entries of food category 13, foods for special groups, and category 18. It adds a new entry for edible caseinates.

Other single changes include quillaia extract (E 999). It gets new entries in food categories 17.1 and 17.2². Shellac (E 904) may be used in tablets for special medical purposes.

What changes in the additive purity rules?

The second notice combines six EU regulations that change the specifications of additives¹. A specification tells a maker what the additive is and how pure it must be. An additive that misses its specification does not meet the rule.

The changes cover:

• Sorbic acid, potassium sorbate and propyl gallate (E 200, E 202, E 310): new description, definition and purity rules¹.
• Eleven cellulose additives (E 460 to E 469): new purity rules and, for most, an added specification.
• Stevia sweetener Rebaudioside M made by fermentation with the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica (E 960b(i)): a new entry.
• Quillaia extract (E 999): the whole entry is replaced.
• Shellac (E 904): new definition, description and wax content rules.
• Gums and pectins (E 410, E 412, E 414, E 415, E 440, E 1450): the entries are replaced.

Makers abroad who sell these ingredients to Israeli food companies must meet the new purity rules. Food importers buying finished foods depend on their suppliers using additives that meet them.

When do the new additive rules start?

Each EU change keeps its own EU start date in Israel². Many of these dates have already passed. The ministry lists them in the notices:

• Tartaric acid and tartrates: Sept. 20, 2025².
• Sorbic acid in red fruit desserts and cellulose in cheese: May 20, 2025.
• Glazing agents and stevia by fermentation: Aug. 25, 2025.
• Cellulose gum in infant medical foods: April 27, 2027.
• Foods for particular nutritional uses: March 25, 2026.
• Sorbic acid in mousses and quillaia extract: May 4, 2026.
• Shellac and the thickeners and gums: Oct. 18, 2026.

There are two later dates for the thickener rules². Food containing starch sodium octenyl succinate (E 1450) has until Feb. 18, 2028. Medical foods for infants from four months and young children containing guar gum have until April 27, 2027.

The purity rules follow similar dates¹. Parts of the sorbic acid rules started on May 20, 2025, and the rest on Nov. 1, 2025. The cellulose rules start on Dec. 27, 2025, quillaia on July 1, 2026, and shellac and gums on Oct. 18, 2026.

How does the Listeria rule fit in?

The additive notices follow an earlier Israeli notice on bacteria in food. On Oct. 20, 2025, Israel notified a change to its copy of Regulation 2073/2005, the EU rule on microbiological criteria, the limits on bacteria in food³.

That change brings in EU Regulation 2024/2895 on Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous bacterium. It covers ready-to-eat foods that allow Listeria to grow, other than foods for infants and special medical purposes³. The EU change applies the strict limit, "not detected in 25 grams," until the end of shelf life. It applies when the food business cannot prove that Listeria stays at or below 100 cfu/g, a count of live bacteria per gram.

Israel said the change would start on July 1, 2026³. But Israel already uses the stricter "not detected in 25 grams" limit in place of 100 cfu/g. The ministry therefore said the EU change has no practical effect in Israel.

The same Oct. 20, 2025 batch included a notice copying EU pesticide residue limits, Regulation 396/2005⁴. That notice said Israel’s adoption of EU pesticide limits does not apply to fresh fruit and vegetables and raw animal products. Codex standards apply to those foods instead.

Who must act and by when?

Food makers abroad who ship to Israel must use additives only as the new EU-based rules allow. A product with an additive no longer allowed in a food category may be refused once the change applies.

Makers of infant and medical foods face the most changes. Cellulose gum, guar gum and other thickeners are removed or limited in several of these food categories².

Trading partners may send comments on both notices until Dec. 4, 2026¹. Comments go to the Health Regulation Directorate at the Ministry of Health. After that, the ministry is expected to publish the final notices in Reshumot, on dates still to be set.

Key points on Israel’s food additive rules

The table sums up the two revised notices.

The next date in the notices is the comment deadline of Dec. 4, 2026¹. From Oct. 18, 2026, shellac and the thickeners and gums follow the new EU uses and purity rules in Israel, with later dates for some baby and medical foods².

Sources

1. ↩ NOTIFICATION — 12319 / NISR13R1 http://www.spsvietnam.gov.vn/Data/File/Notice/12319/NISR13R1.pdf
2. ↩ NOTIFICATION — 12320 / NISR14R2 http://www.spsvietnam.gov.vn/Data/File/Notice/12320/NISR14R2.pdf
3. ↩ 1219520251031141726136.pdf https://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/SPS/1219520251031141726136.pdf
4. ↩ 1219520251031142055577.pdf https://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/SPS/1219520251031142055577.pdf