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How are dietary intakes of food additives monitored?

The monitoring of food additives is carried out by individual Member States on advice from the SCF. The ADI is compared with “average” and “extreme” consumption estimates in the population as whole or in particular subgroups of the population. Provided that intakes for average and extreme consumers are within the ADI, it is unlikely that any harm will result because the ADI is based on a no-effect level, to which a large safety margin has been applied. To ensure that consumers are not exceeding the ADI by consuming too much or too many products containing a particular additive, EU legislation requires that intake studies be carried out to assess any changes in intake patterns.