[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 21, Volume 3]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 21CFR171.1]

[Page 24-28]
 
                        TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
 
CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
                          SERVICES (CONTINUED)
 
PART 171_FOOD ADDITIVE PETITIONS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A_General Provisions
 
Sec. 171.1  Petitions.




                      Subpart A_General Provisions

Sec.
171.1 Petitions.
171.6 Amendment of petition.
171.7 Withdrawal of petition without prejudice.
171.8 Threshold of regulation for substances used in food-contact 
          articles.

            Subpart B_Administrative Actions on Applications

171.100 Regulation based on petition.
171.102 Effective date of regulation.
171.110 Procedure for objections and hearings.
171.130 Procedure for amending and repealing tolerances or exemptions 
          from tolerances.

    Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321, 342, 348, 371.

    Source: 42 FR 14489, Mar. 15, 1977, unless otherwise noted.



    (a) Petitions to be filed with the Commissioner under the provisions 
of section 409(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) 
shall be submitted in triplicate (quadruplicate, if intended uses 
include use in meat, meat food product, or poultry product). If any part 
of the material submitted is in a foreign language, it shall be 
accompanied by an accurate and complete English translation. The 
petition shall state petitioner's post office address to which published 
notices or orders issued or objections filed pursuant to section 409 of 
the Act may be sent.
    (b) Pertinent information may be incorporated in, and will be 
considered as part of, a petition on the basis of specific reference to 
such information submitted to and retained in the files of the Food and 
Drug Administration. However, any reference to unpublished information 
furnished by a person other than the applicant will not be considered 
unless use of such information is authorized in a written statement 
signed by the person who submitted it. Any reference to published 
information offered in support of a food

[[Page 25]]

additive petition should be accompanied by reprints or photostatic 
copies of such references.
    (c) Petitions shall include the following data and be submitted in 
the following form:

                                                                  (Date)
Name of petitioner______________________________________________________
Post-office address_____________________________________________________
Date____________________________________________________________________
Name of food additive and proposed use__________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Petitions Control Branch
Food and Drug Administration
Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, DC 20204.

Dear Sirs:
    The undersigned, ---------- submits this petition pursuant to 
section 409(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with 
respect to ----------

(Name of the food additive and proposed use)

    Attached hereto, in triplicate (quadruplicate, if intended uses 
include use in meat, meat food product, or poultry product), and 
constituting a part of this petition are the following:
    A. The name and all pertinent information concerning the food 
additive, including chemical identity and composition of the food 
additive, its physical, chemical, and biological properties, and 
specifications prescribing the minimum content of the desired 
component(s) and identifying and limiting the reaction byproducts and 
other impurities. Where such information is not available, a statement 
as to the reasons why it is not should be submitted.
    When the chemical identity and composition of the food additive is 
not known, the petition shall contain information in sufficient detail 
to permit evaluation regarding the method of manufacture and the 
analytical controls used during the various stages of manufacturing, 
processing, or packing of the food additive which are relied upon to 
establish that it is a substance of reproducible composition. 
Alternative methods and controls and variations in methods and controls 
within reasonable limits that do not affect the characteristics of the 
substance or the reliability of the controls may be specified.
    If the food additive is a mixture of chemicals, the petition shall 
supply a list of all substances used in the synthesis, extraction, or 
other method of preparation, regardless of whether they undergo chemical 
change in the process. Each substance should be identified by its common 
English name and complete chemical name, using structural formulas when 
necessary for specific identification. If any proprietary preparation is 
used as a component, the proprietary name should be followed by a 
complete quantitative statement of composition. Reasonable alternatives 
for any listed substance may be specified.
    If the petitioner does not himself perform all the manufacturing, 
processing, and packing operations for a food additive, the petition 
shall identify each person who will perform a part of such operations 
and designate the part.
    The petition shall include stability data, and, if the data indicate 
that it is needed to insure the identity, strength, quality, or purity 
of the additive, the expiration date that will be employed.
    B. The amount of the food additive proposed for use and the purposes 
for which it is proposed, together with all directions, recommendations, 
and suggestions regarding the proposed use, as well as specimens of the 
labeling proposed for the food additive and any labeling that will be 
required by applicable provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act on the finished food by reason of the use of the food 
additive. If the additive results or may reasonably be expected to 
result from the use of packaging material, the petitioner shall show how 
this may occur and what residues may reasonably be anticipated.
    (Typewritten or other draft-labeling copy will be accepted for 
consideration of the petition, provided a statement is made that final 
printed labeling identical in content to the draft copy will be 
submitted as soon as available and prior to the marketing of the food 
additive.)
    (If the food additive is one for which a tolerance limitation is 
required to assure its safety, the level of use proposed should be no 
higher than the amount reasonably required to accomplish the intended 
physical or other technical effect, even though the safety data may 
support a higher tolerance.)
    C. Data establishing that the food additive will have the intended 
physical or other technical effect or that it may reasonably be expected 
to become a component, or to affect the characteristics, directly or 
indirectly, of food and the amount necessary to accomplish this. These 
data should include information in sufficient detail to permit 
evaluation with control data.
    D. A description of practicable methods to determine the amount of 
the food additive in the raw, processed, and/or finished food and of any 
substance formed in or on such food because of its use. The test 
proposed shall be one that can be used for food-control purposes and 
that can be applied with consistent results by any properly equipped and 
trained laboratory personnel.
    E. Full reports of investigations made with respect to the safety of 
the food additive.
    (A petition may be regarded as incomplete unless it includes full 
reports of adequate tests reasonably applicable to show whether

[[Page 26]]

or not the food additive will be safe for its intended use. The reports 
ordinarily should include detailed data derived from appropriate animal 
and other biological experiments in which the methods used and the 
results obtained are clearly set forth. The petition shall not omit 
without explanation any reports of investigations that would bias an 
evaluation of the safety of the food additive.)
    F. Proposed tolerances for the food additive, if tolerances are 
required in order to insure its safety. A petitioner may include a 
proposed regulation.
    G. If submitting petition to modify an existing regulation issued 
pursuant to section 409(c)(1)(A) of the Act, full information on each 
proposed change that is to be made in the original regulation must be 
submitted. The petition may omit statements made in the original 
petition concerning which no change is proposed. A supplemental petition 
must be submitted for any change beyond the variations provided for in 
the original petition and the regulation issued on the basis of the 
original petition.
    H. The petitioner is required to submit either a claim for 
categorical exclusion under Sec. 25.30 or 25.32 of this chapter or an 
environmental assessment under Sec. 25.40 of this chapter.

Yours very truly,
Petitioner______________________________________________________________
By______________________________________________________________________
                                                    (Indicate authority)

    (d) The petitioner will be notified of the date on which his 
petition is filed; and an incomplete petition, or one that has not been 
submitted in triplicate, will usually be retained but not filed as a 
petition under section 409 of the Act. The petitioner will be notified 
in what respects his petition is incomplete.
    (e) The petition must be signed by the petitioner or by his attorney 
or agent, or (if a corporation) by an authorized official.
    (f) The data specified under the several lettered headings should be 
submitted on separate sheets or sets of sheets, suitably identified. If 
such data have already been submitted with an earlier application, the 
present petition may incorporate it by specific reference to the 
earlier. If part of the data have been submitted by the manufacturer of 
the food additive as a master file, the petitioner may refer to the 
master file if and to the extent he obtains the manufacturer's written 
permission to do so. The manufacturer may authorize specific reference 
to the data without disclosure to the petitioner. Nothing herein shall 
prevent reference to published data.
    (g) A petition shall be retained but shall not be filed if any of 
the data prescribed by section 409(b) of the Act are lacking or are not 
set forth so as to be readily understood.
    (h)(1) The following data and information in a food additive 
petition are available for public disclosure, unless extraordinary 
circumstances are shown, after the notice of filing of the petition is 
published in the Federal Register or, if the petition is not promptly 
filed because of deficiencies in it, after the petitioner is informed 
that it will not be filed because of the deficiencies involved:
    (i) All safety and functionality data and information submitted with 
or incorporated by reference in the petition.
    (ii) A protocol for a test or study, unless it is shown to fall 
within the exemption established for trade secrets and confidential 
commercial information in Sec. 20.61 of this chapter.
    (iii) Adverse reaction reports, product experience reports, consumer 
complaints, and other similar data and information, after deletion of:
    (a) Names and any information that would identify the person using 
the product.
    (b) Names and any information that would identify any third party 
involved with the report, such as a physician or hospital or other 
institution.
    (iv) A list of all ingredients contained in a food additive, whether 
or not it is in descending order of predominance. A particular 
ingredient or group of ingredients shall be deleted from any such list 
prior to public disclosure if it is shown to fall within the exemption 
established in Sec. 20.61 of this chapter, and a notation shall be made 
that any such ingredient list is incomplete.
    (v) An assay method or other analytical method, unless it serves no 
regulatory or compliance purpose and is shown to fall within the 
exemption established in Sec. 20.61 of this chapter.
    (2) The following data and information in a food additive petition 
are not available for public disclosure unless they have been previously 
disclosed to the public as defined in Sec. 20.81 of this chapter or 
they relate to a product or ingredient that has been abandoned

[[Page 27]]

and they no longer represent a trade secret or confidential commercial 
or financial information as defined in Sec. 20.61 of this chapter:
    (i) Manufacturing methods or processes, including quality control 
procedures.
    (ii) Production, sales, distribution, and similar data and 
information, except that any compilation of such data and information 
aggregated and prepared in a way that does not reveal data or 
information which is not available for public disclosure under this 
provision is available for public disclosure.
    (iii) Quantitative or semi quan ti ta tive formulas.
    (3) All correspondence and written summaries of oral discussions 
relating to a food additive petition are available for public disclosure 
in accordance with the provisions of part 20 of this chapter when the 
food additive regulation is published in the Federal Register.
    (4) For purposes of this regulation, safety and functionality data 
include all studies and tests of a food additive on animals and humans 
and all studies and tests on a food additive for identity, stability, 
purity, potency, performance, and usefulness.
    (i)(1)(i) Within 15 days after receipt, the Food and Drug 
Administration will notify the petitioner of the acceptance or 
nonacceptance of a petition, and if not accepted, the reasons therefor. 
If accepted, the petitioner will be sent a letter stating this and the 
date of the letter shall become the date of filing for the purposes of 
section 409(b)(5) of the act. In cases in which the Food and Drug 
Administration agrees that a premarket notification for a food contact 
substance (Food Contact Notification (FCN)) submitted under section 
409(h) of the act may be converted to a petition, the withdrawal date 
for the FCN will be deemed the date of receipt for the petition.
    (ii) If the petitioner desires, he may supplement a deficient 
petition after being notified regarding deficiencies. If the 
supplementary material or explanation of the petition is deemed 
acceptable, the petitioner shall be notified. The date of such 
notification becomes the date of filing. If the petitioner does not wish 
to supplement or explain the petition and requests in writing that it be 
filed as submitted, the petition shall be filed and the petitioner so 
notified.
    (iii) Notwithstanding paragraph (i)(1)(ii) of this section, the 
petition shall not be filed if the Food and Drug Administration 
determines that the use identified in the petition should be the subject 
of an FCN under section 409(h) of the act rather than a petition.
    (2) The Commissioner will publish in the Federal Register within 30 
days from the date of filing of such petition, a notice of the filing, 
the name of the petitioner, and a brief description of the proposal in 
general terms. In the case of a food additive which becomes a component 
of food by migration from packaging material, the notice shall include 
the name of the migratory substance, and where it is different from that 
of one of the original components, the name of the parent component, the 
maximum quantity of the migratory substance that is proposed for use in 
food, and the physical or other technical effect which the migratory 
substance or its parent component is intended to have in the packaging 
material. A copy of the notice will be mailed to the petitioner when the 
original is forwarded to the Federal Register for publication.
    (j) The Commissioner may request a full description of the methods 
used in, and the facilities and controls used for, the production of the 
food additive, or a sample of the food additive, articles used as 
components thereof, or of the food in which the additive is proposed to 
be used, at any time while a petition is under consideration. The 
Commissioner shall specify in the request for a sample of the food 
additive, or articles used as components thereof, or of the food in or 
on which the additive is proposed to be used, a quantity deemed adequate 
to permit tests of analytical methods to determine quantities of the 
food additive present in foods for which it is intended to be used or 
adequate for any study or investigation reasonably required with respect 
to the safety of the food additive or the physical or technical effect 
it produces. The date used for computing the 90-day limit for the 
purposes of section 409(c)(2) of the

[[Page 28]]

Act shall be moved forward 1 day for each day after the mailing date of 
the request taken by the petitioner to submit the sample. If the 
information or sample is requested a reasonable time in advance of the 
180 days, but is not submitted within such 180 days after filing of the 
petition, the petition will be considered withdrawn without prejudice.
    (k) If nonclinical laboratory studies are involved, petitions filed 
with the Commissioner under section 409(b) of the act shall include, 
with respect to each nonclinical study contained in the petition, either 
a statement that the study has been, or will be, conducted in compliance 
with the good laboratory practice regulations as set forth in part 58 of 
this chapter, or, if any such study was not conducted in compliance with 
such regulations, a brief statement of the reason for the noncompliance.
    (l) [Reserved]
    (m) If clinical investigations involving human subjects are 
involved, petitions filed with the Commissioner under section 409(b) of 
the Act shall include statements regarding each such clinical 
investigation relied upon in the petition that it either was conducted 
in compliance with the requirements for institutional review set forth 
in part 56 of this chapter, or was not subject to such requirements in 
accordance with Sec. 56.104 or Sec. 56.105, and that it was conducted 
in compliance with the requirements for informed consent set forth in 
part 50 of this chapter.
    (n)(1) If intended uses of the food additive include uses in meat, 
meat food product, or poultry product subject to regulation by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Poultry Products Inspection 
Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) or the Federal Meat Inspection Act 
(FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), FDA shall, upon filing of the petition, 
forward a copy of the petition or relevant portions thereof to the Food 
Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, for simultaneous review under the 
PPIA and FMIA.
    (2) FDA will ask USDA to advise whether the proposed meat and 
poultry uses comply with the FMIA and PPIA, or if not, whether use of 
the substance would be permitted in products under USDA jurisdiction 
under specified conditions or restrictions.

[42 FR 14489, Mar. 15, 1977, as amended at 42 FR 15674, Mar. 22, 1977; 
46 FR 8952, Jan. 27, 1981; 50 FR 7492, Feb. 22, 1985; 50 16668, Apr. 26, 
1985; 62 FR 40599, July 29, 1997; 65 FR 51763, Aug. 25, 2000; 67 FR 
35731, May 21, 2002]

    Effective Date Note: At 65 FR 51763, Aug. 25, 2000, Sec. 171.1 was 
amended in paragraph (a) by revising the first sentence, in paragraph 
(c) in the petition by revising the introductory paragraph preceding 
paragraph A., and by adding paragraph (n). The revised and added text 
contains information collection and recordkeeping requirements and will 
not become effective until approval has been given by the Office of 
Management and Budget.