On April 4, the GCC Gulf Standardization Organization published draft technical standards for non-alcoholic beverages and updated Technical Regulation 28/2006 “Non-Alcoholic Carbonated Beverages” by Saudi Arabia. The technical regulation GSO 18/2021 includes scientific references and addresses several points including a nutritional labeling requirement for caffeine to be clearly declared in non-alcoholic beverages. Other points include the potability standard for water used to manufacture non-alcoholic beverages along with a standard reference for the carbon dioxide that is used to carbonate beverages. Under the new draft technical standards, heavy metals are addressed with a limit of 0.2 ppm for lead and 0.1 ppm for arsenic. The draft is open for public comment until June 1, 2021.

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Posted on 26 April 2021