Trade Ministry to Ban the Use of Carcinogenic Additives, Pig Derivatives in Food Production

General-Manager of Economic Control and Suppression of Fraud at the Trade Ministry, Abdelhamid Boukahnoune, told Echorouk, that the government has completed the preparation of an integrated Algerian system which identifies the carcinogenic additives that are authorized in manufacturing and producing food, depending on the Codex Alimentarius, after 7 years of work initiated in cooperation ‭with ‭many ‭of the ministerial departments. ‬

“A text will be issued shortly in the Official Gazette, obliging all stakeholders in the food industry, both Algerian companies specialized in the food industry or import companies for sale in case of different food products. Algeria will be able, under the legal text, to tighten control on the advanced stages of the food production chain, as it will be able for the first time to withdraw hundreds of substances that were used before 2005. Scientific research show their danger on public health and the existence of a direct relationship between consumption and many diseases like cancer and sensitivity, as well as ultimate prevention of the use of products of animal sources, especially gelatin derived from pigs, which is prohibited by Islam, and substances like E120 derived from insects, and E441 which is an animal gelatin, which is drawn sometimes from boiling the skins of pigs”, he added.

“The text which will be released soon sets new series of sweeteners, flavors, antioxidants, colorings and conditioners of taste, that will be used in the future, and will also identify names of products, which will be finaly banned‭ in food ‭industries, starting with ‭the issuance of the text, as the latest ‭scientific results, used in Codex Alimentarius, will be adopted by all the professionals in Algeria”‭.