Recent News in the Food Flavor Industry
Recent news in the food flavor industry mainly focuses on three aspects: industry dynamics, safety incidents, and revisions to relevant regulations and standards.
Industry and Company Dynamics:
Xi’an Taima Biotechnology, a world-leading supplier of flavorings and cooling agents with leading experience and product quality, has been supplying various flavorings and WS series cooling agents globally since 2008. Xi’an Taima is enriching its WS series and high-quality flavoring product lines to meet market demand.
Hasegawa Flavorings of Japan’s 620-ton/year food powder flavoring expansion project in Suzhou commenced at the end of April 2026 and is expected to be operational in June 2027.
Israel’s Turpaz Industries acquired US-based Phoenix for $95 million. Flavors is expanding into the North American market; Huabao International faces revenue challenges in its flavor and food ingredient business due to changes in downstream demand.
Furthermore, the 2026 China Flavor and Fragrance Science and Technology Conference opened at the end of April, clarifying development goals such as technological innovation during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.
Moschic Americano coffee promoted by Kuaishou livestreamer “Dandan” claimed to have “0 additives and only coffee powder on the ingredient list,” but it was found to contain unlabeled synthetic flavoring ethyl maltol; the manufacturer is under investigation. Plant-based flavorings were previously seized in Zhongmu County, Henan Province. Cases of adulterating milk powder with flavorings from fat powder and maltodextrin processing industries;
Regarding violations and safety incidents:
Chongqing, Kaifeng, and other places have also reported typical cases of adulterated edible oils with illegally added flavorings, and soybean oil with added flavorings being used to impersonate black sesame oil;
Regulation and Standard Revisions:
In April 2026, the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee solicited opinions on several standard amendments. Among them, Amendment No. 1 to “Food Flavorings” (GB30616-2020) proposed adding some excipients and deleting dehydroacetic acid and its sodium salt. Meanwhile, Amendment No. 1 to “Standards for the Use of Food Additives” (GB 2760-2024) proposed deleting three food flavorings without technological necessity and adjusting five substances to food flavoring excipients.
