RESOLUTION OIV-OENO 586-2019

OIV CELLULOSE GUMS (CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE) LIMIT – UPDATE

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

IN VIEW of article 2, paragraph 2 ii of the Agreement of 3 April 2001 establishing the International Organisation of Vine and Wine,

CONSIDERING the work of the working group on updating or confirming the use limits of certain additives or processing aids,

CONSIDERING the work of the "Technology" expert group during its march 2014 session,

CONSIDERING file 3.3.14 of the International Code of Oenological Practices on the treatment of white wines and sparkling wines with cellulose gums (carboxymethylcellulose), for which a use limit has been set at 100 mg/L,

CONSIDERING the opinions of the working group indicating that:

• in some cases, the addition of 100 mg/L of carboxymethylcellulose is not sufficient to achieve the stabilisation of very unstable wines,
• the use of a dose of 200 mg/L of carboxymethylcellulose  for some very unstable wines is necessary to achieve the tartaric stability, especially taking into account that in sparkling wines, during the secondary fermentation (prise de mousse), a part of the product disappears.
• higher doses are not suggested, as turbidity can appear.

CONSIDERING that, even if there is no proven health risk, in particular by the absence of a specific acceptable daily intake, numeric use levels for cellulose gums (carboxymethylcellulose) are necessary in order to maintain the authenticity and identity of vitivinicultural products and to avoid too great an enrichment with sodium originating from the carboxymethylcellulose solution added,

DECIDES, on the proposal of Commission II "Oenology", to modify the current limit for the treatment of wines with cellulose gums (carboxymethylcellulose) as it appears in part II, chapter 3 of the International Code of Oenological Practices, and in particular in file 3.3.14, as follows:

Prescription a) is to be modified as follows:

The dose of carboxymethylcellulose to be used should be below 200 mg/L.

Prescription c) is added:

3. Carboxymethylcellulose may cause instability in the presence of proteins and polyphenols