Safety Evaluation and Assessment of Gases for Food Applications

Food gases are used in the food industry as ‘ingredients’, ‘technological aids’, or ‘food additives’. Anyway, these substances are in contact with foods and beverages. As a result, food security has to be assured with reference to food gases. On these bases, and because of the evident identification of gases used for food applications as ‘food’, each food gas producer is certainly a food business operator, similar to all players in the food supply chain. The hygienic approach imposes to consider food gases as a single component for food and/or beverage productions. The hazard analysis and critical control points strategy is needed and mandatory in this situation. However, food technologists, biologists, chemists, hygiene experts, and other experienced professionals can have their own opinion in the ambit of safety evaluation and assessment. Consequently, this chapter would give readers some idea in relation to risk assessment of food gases in connection with their European classification as foaming agents, packaging gases, propellants, or raising substances.