This page covers the regulatory framework for algae-derived substances used as food additives — colourants, thickeners, gelling agents and emulsifiers being the most commercially significant categories for algae. It is distinct from, but closely related to, the Novel Food framework: an algal substance can simultaneously raise both questions, and producers need to consider both regimes.

A food additive is a substance added to food intentionally, for a technological purpose (colouring, preserving, thickening, emulsifying, and so on), in a controlled and typically small quantity, and which itself becomes a component of the food. This is a different legal category from a “food” or “food ingredient” in the conventional sense, and it is governed by its own regulation with its own authorisation list, even where the substance happens to originate from algae.

The relationship between the additive framework and the novel food framework can be a source of confusion:

• If a substance is to be used as an additive (for a technological function, in the quantities typical of additive use), it is regulated under the food additives framework described on this page.
• If a substance is to be used as a food or food ingredient in its own right (for its nutritional or compositional contribution, even if it also happens to have functional properties), it falls under the Novel Food Regulation if it lacks an EU pre-1997 history of consumption.
• The same algal substance can require clearance under both frameworks for different uses — for example, an extract used as a blue colourant in confectionery is assessed as an additive, while the same extract marketed as a “superfood” ingredient in a smoothie powder may need separate novel food consideration if it does not have an established history of consumption in that form.

Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 (the Novel Food Regulation) explicitly excludes from its scope substances used exclusively as food additives, food enzymes, flavourings or extraction solvents, each of which is governed by its own dedicated regulation — see Novel Food and Use of Extraction Solvents.

Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on food additives, OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 16. EUR-Lex

Relevance to algae: This is the central framework regulation governing which substances may be used as food additives, in which foods, and at what maximum levels. Key provisions:

• Annex II contains the Union list of approved food additives, each assigned an E-number, together with the conditions of use (which food categories, maximum levels, and any restrictions).
• Art. 3 — defines “food additive” and sets out the technological functional classes (colour, preservative, antioxidant, thickener, gelling agent, emulsifier, stabiliser, and others).
• Any new additive, or any new source of an already-approved additive, requires authorisation following a risk assessment by EFSA before it can be added to Annex II or before its conditions of use can be extended.
• Algae-derived additives already on the Union list include several of significant commercial importance to the algae sector (see below).

Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 of 9 March 2012 laying down specifications for food additives listed in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, OJ L 83, 22.3.2012, p. 1. EUR-Lex

Relevance to algae: Once an additive is authorised, this regulation sets out its detailed technical specification — purity criteria, identification tests, and permitted production methods. For algae-derived additives, the specification will typically define the permitted source species and the acceptable production/extraction process; a producer seeking to supply an already-authorised additive (for example, a carrageenan or an algal carotenoid) from a different species or process than that specified must verify whether their material meets the existing specification or whether a specification amendment or new authorisation is needed.

EFSA has been conducting a systematic re-evaluation of all food additives that were authorised in the EU before 20 January 2009, under the mandate set by Commission Regulation (EU) No 257/2010 EURlex. Several algae-derived colourants and thickeners have been or are being re-evaluated under this programme, which can result in revised acceptable daily intake (ADI) values or revised conditions of use. Producers of algae-derived additives should monitor EFSA's re-evaluation outputs for their specific substances.

• E 140 (Chlorophylls and chlorophyllins) and E 141 (Copper complexes of chlorophylls and chlorophyllins) — green colourants that can be derived from algae among other plant sources.
• Phycocyanin (E 999 is unrelated; phycocyanin from Spirulina/Limnospira is typically authorised under the broader “Spirulina extract” colour entries, depending on the specific Commission authorisation) — the blue pigment extracted from Limnospira platensis (Spirulina) has been authorised for specific uses following a dedicated EFSA safety assessment; as noted on the Novel Food page, this is also a useful illustration of how an extract can be treated differently from the source biomass under different legal frameworks, since the colourant authorisation under the additives framework is conceptually and procedurally separate from the novel food question for the extract used as an ingredient.
• β-carotene (E 160a) from Dunaliella salina — one of the longest-established commercial algae-derived colourants, with a well-established additive authorisation.
• Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis — primarily significant as a feed additive/colourant (notably in aquaculture and poultry feed, see Feed) rather than as an EU-authorised food colour additive for human food, where its regulatory status is more limited; producers should check current Annex II entries and conditions of use carefully before assuming food-additive status for a given application.

• E 400–407 series — alginates (E 400 alginic acid, E 401 sodium alginate, E 402 potassium alginate, E 404 calcium alginate, E 405 propylene glycol alginate) derived from brown seaweed (Laminaria, Macrocystis, Ascophyllum and others) and E 407 (Carrageenan) and E 407a (Processed Eucheuma seaweed) derived from red seaweed (Eucheuma, Kappaphycus, Chondrus crispus) are among the most widely used and commercially significant algae-derived food additives in the entire EU food system, used extensively as gelling agents, thickeners and stabilisers across a very broad range of food categories.
• E 406 (Agar) — derived from various red seaweed genera (Gelidium, Gracilaria), another long-established and widely used gelling agent.

These biocolloids (alginates, carrageenan, agar) represent, by volume and economic value, by far the largest established commercial use of algae as food additives in the EU, predating the more recent interest in algae as whole foods or novel ingredients. Their specifications, purity criteria and conditions of use are mature and well-established under Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.

• Identify the correct regulatory category first. Before assuming a product needs novel food authorisation, check whether it could instead (or additionally) be classified as a food additive, which may have an established Union list entry already covering the relevant species and use.
• Check the specification, not just the additive entry. An E-number on the Union list does not automatically cover every source species or production method; Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 specifications can be source-specific.
• Watch for re-evaluation outcomes, particularly for long-established colourants, as EFSA's ongoing re-evaluation programme can change conditions of use or ADI values without warning to individual producers.
• Remember that additive status and novel food status are not mutually exclusive — the same substance can need clearance under both frameworks for different product applications.

See also: Food | Novel Food | Health and Nutrition Claims | Use of Extraction Solvents | Feed

Last reviewed: June 2026.