Modification to the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use (silicon dioxide)
- Notice of Modification – Lists of Permitted Food Additives
- Reference number: MFAA-2601
- February 4, 2026
Summary
The purpose of this notice is to announce that Health Canada modified the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use to authorize the use of silicon dioxide in modified sugar, to increase its dissolution rate, at a maximum level of use of 2,000 parts per million (ppm), as shown in Table 1.
This modification comes into force on February 4, 2026.
Background
The food additives authorized for use in Canada are set out in the Lists of Permitted Food Additives. These lists are incorporated by reference into Division 16 of the Food and Drug Regulations.
A person, company or organization (referred to as petitioners) may ask Health Canada to authorize a new food additive use by filing a food additive submission.
Issue
Health Canada received a food additive submission requesting that silicon dioxide be authorized for use in sugar at a maximum level of use of 2,000 ppm. The purpose of using the silicon dioxide is to increase the dissolution rate of the sugar.
At the time the request was filed, silicon dioxide was authorized for use as an anticaking agent in icing sugar, as a colour stabilizer in colouring agent formulations, and as a suspending agent in edible vegetable oil-based cookware coating emulsions. Increasing the dissolution rate of sugar is a new purpose of use for silicon dioxide.
Rationale
Health Canada completed a premarket safety and efficacy assessment of silicon dioxide for its requested use. The assessment considered potential dietary exposure to silicon dioxide and other food safety aspects (allergenicity, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, and toxicology) as well as technical information pertaining to efficacy.
There is a compositional standard for sugar set out in Volume 15 of the Canadian Food Compositional Standards. The standard prescribes that sugar contain not less than 99.8% sucrose. Health Canada has not authorized any food additives for use in sugar.
The sugar that is treated with silicon dioxide has different characteristics than conventional sugar. To distinguish it from conventional sugar, Health Canada considers it to be a modified sugar, which is an unstandardized food category.
The outcome of Health Canada's evaluation supports authorizing the use of silicon dioxide in modified sugar as set out in Table 1.
Modification to the list
Health Canada has authorized the requested use of silicon dioxide in modified sugar by adding the new paragraph S.2(c) to the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use, as shown in Table 1 (new entries to Column 3, 4 and 5 in bold font to illustrate the change).
| Item | Column 1: Food additive |
Column 2: Source |
Column 3: Food |
Column 4: Purpose of use |
Column 5: Maximum level of use, maximum level of residue and other conditions |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.2 | Silicon dioxide | n/a | (c) Modified sugar | (c) To increase dissolution rate | (c) 2,000 ppm | MFAA-2601 |
Other relevant information
Food additive specifications
Food additives authorized for use in Canada must meet the specifications set out in the Table of Food Additive Specifications, if they exist.
Food additives which do not have specifications in this table must meet the specifications, if any, set out in the latest edition of one of the following documents:
The use of the term "Modified sugar" as a food category in the Lists of Permitted Food Additives does not designate the term as the common name for sugar that has been treated with silicon dioxide to increase its dissolution rate.
Implementation and enforcement
The modification shown in Table 1 comes into force on February 4, 2026, the day of its publication in the List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Purposes of Use.
You can consult the Notices of Proposal and Notices of Modification web page to stay informed of these modifications, or you can register for Health Canada's Consultation and Stakeholder Information Management System to be automatically notified when they are issued.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act and its associated regulations with respect to foods.
Contact information
If you wish to submit an inquiry or new scientific information about a food additive authorized for use in Canada please contact Health Canada's Bureau of Chemical Safety.
If your communication is specific to this notice, please use the words "silicon dioxide (MFAA-2601)" in the subject line of your message.
Bureau of Chemical Safety
Food and Nutrition Directorate
251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway
Postal locator 2202C
Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa ON K1A 0K9
Email: bcs-bipc@hc-sc.gc.ca
Useful links
Health Canada:
Canadian Food Inspection Agency: