GNT Group has opened an affiliate office in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in Dubai. ###“As people are getting increasingly conscious of food additives, the demand for natural incitracal fortegredients is growing strongly and this will soon be further supported by stricter legislation in the GCC,” says Santhosh Thankappan, sales director at GNT Middle East. ###“Servicing our clients locally in the Middle East, enables us to directly support them with any technical/application challenges and provide innovative solutions that fit perfectly with consumers’ expectations for a natural color.”

Warning on four artificial colors###Food and beverage manufacturers located in the GCC region; Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, need to prepare for upcoming major regulatory changes.###The GCC recently published a new legislation GSO 2500/2015 relating to the use of food additives, in order to better comply to international standards. ###According to the regulation, it will be mandatory for food and beverages containing the colors Allura Red AC (INS 129), Sunset Yellow (INS 110), Azorubine (INS 122) and Tartrazine (INS 102) to have the warning statement ‘this material may be having a negative effectcalcium citrate with vitamin d 315 mg on activity and concentration of childrtrimagnesium citrate in fooden’.###These colors belong to the so called ‘Southampton Six’ – which hit the headlines when a 2007 Southampton University study linked their magnesium lactateusage with hyperactivity of children. ###In the European Union, a similar warning has been mandatorycarlson chewable calcium citrate since 2010.###With a local Middle East office in Dubai, GNT says it can support manufacturers in the region even better with regard to the upcoming legislation and assist in switching from colorants to Colouring Foods.