Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI): Estimate of the amount of substances in food expressed on a body weight basis, that can be ingested daily over a lifetime, without appreciable risk to any consumer on the basis of all known facts at the time of evaluation, taking into account sensitive groups within the population (e.g. children and the unborn) (Article 3(2)(j) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005).
As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA): Lowest maximum levels for contaminants reasonably achievable with good manufacturing practices or good agricultural practices
Atomized smoke: Either → smoke flavourings or → primary products used as flavourings that when sprayed produce droplets less than 50 µm (fog) in size. Used as an ingredient in food production in the process of flavouring food; no smoking process.
Authorisation holder: Food business operator in possession of a licenced flavouring primary product under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1321/2013
Beer (smoked): Type of beer having a smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame or by using → CleanSmoke (German: Rauchbier)
Best Available Techniques (BAT): Most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation […] (Article 3(10) of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions) – environmental law
Casing: Material enclosing the filling of sausages and other meat products
Cheese (smoked): Cheese treated by smoke-curing (example: Polish Oscypek or Hungarian Karaván)
CleanSmoke: Purified smoke generated on the basis of purified primary products (smoke condensates). Physical smoke (gaseous) used in food production as a process of smoking.
Codex Alimentarius Commission: Body of the United Nations, offshoot of both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), establishing international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice contributing to the safety, quality and fairness of this international food trade; author of guidelines, codes of practices and standards on the smoking of food
Cold smoke: Smoke application in the temperature range of about 15 to 28 °C
Combustion smoke: Category of → conventional smoke. Smoke generated from sawdust or woodchips. Sawdust or woodchips of different particle size and different moisture content are ignited by a heating wire and under supply of air smouldered. The typical pyrolysis temperature is between 500 and 800 °C.
Conventional smoke: Process of flavouring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smouldering material, most often wood. Most common as → combustion smoke and → friction smoke.
Derived smoke flavourings: Flavourings produced as a result of the further processing of primary products and which are used or intended to be used in or on foods in order to impart smoke flavour to those foods (Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003)
Drenching: The application of smoke components in a liquid phase to a food surface at various temperatures
Emissions: Direct or indirect release of substances, vibrations, heat or noise from individual or diffuse sources in the installation into air, water or land (Article 3(4) of Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions)
Feed (smoked): Smoked or smoked flavoured animal food; in regulatory terms qualified as either feed additives under Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition or feed material under Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 on the placing on the market and use of feed
Food preservation: Next to drying and salting smoking counts among the oldest food processing techniques helping to preserve food; smoking processes and the use of smoke flavourings can help to secure the microbiological safety of a food product
Food processing: Any action that substantially alters the initial product, including heating, smoking, curing, maturing, drying, marinating, extraction, extrusion or a combination of those processes (→ Article 2(1)(m) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004)
FIAP 2008: Food Improvement Agents Package approved 2008 consisting of Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008 establishing a common authorisation procedure for food additives, food enzymes and food flavourings, Regulation (EC) No 1332/2008 on food enzymes, Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives, and Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties for use in and on foods. Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 contains a definition of → ‘smoke flavouring’ (Article 3(2)(f) thereof; also see recitals 18, 27).
Fish (smoked): Fish treated by smoke-curing
Friction smoke: Category of → conventional smoke. Smoke generated from wooden blocks. A wooden block is pressed onto a fast-rotating steel friction wheel. At the friction surface smoke is generated by the increased temperature. The typical pyrolysis temperature is between 300 and 400 °C.
Food flavourings: Products (ii) not intended to be consumed as such, which are added to food in order to impart or modify odour and/or taste; (ii) made or consisting of the following categories: flavouring substances, flavouring preparations, thermal process flavourings, smoke flavourings, flavour precursors or other flavourings or mixtures thereof (→ Article 3(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008)
Geographical indications: → Quality products
Good smoking practice: Good manufacturing practice for smoking of food
Good smoking practices for organic food: […] Any processing practice applied, such as smoking, shall respect the principles of good manufacturing practice (→ Article 26(1) of Regulation (EC) No 889/2008); as of 1/1/2021 Annex II Part IV 1.1 and Annex II Part V 1.1 of Regulation (EU) 2018/848
Hot (warm) smoke: Smoke application in the temperature range of about 30 °C and above
Margin of Safety: For a given smoke flavouring, the Margin of Safety (MOS) is the ratio of the No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level (NOAEL) typically identified through a 90-day toxicological study in animals, to the anticipated exposure of consumers to this substance through the diet. The expert evaluation of the accepted MOS takes into account evidence that the smoke flavouring is not genotoxic (i.e. does not damage DNA, the genetic material of cells) and applies uncertainty factors for variations between animals and humans and between population groups (e.g. infants, children, elderly).
Maximum residue level (MRL): Upper legal level of a concentration for a residue in or on food or feed, based on good agricultural practice and the lowest consumer exposure necessary to protect vulnerable consumers (≈ Article 3(2)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005)
Label: Any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or other descriptive matter, written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on, or attached to the packaging or container of food (Article 2(2)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011)
Labelling: Any words, particulars, trade marks, brand name, pictorial matter or symbol relating to a food and placed on any packaging, document, notice, label, ring or collar accompanying or referring to such food (Article 2(2)(j) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and Article 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012)
Liquid smoke: Aqueous smoke flavourings derivatives, often diluted, sold in retail to the final consumer; otherwise misnomer for primary smoke condensates
Maillard reaction: Chemical reaction between amino-acids and reducing sugars giving smoked, roasted, fried or baked food its distinctive brown colour, texture and flavour
Organic food: Food produced in compliance with Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 (as of 1/1/2021 Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and the Council) requiring the application of → good smoking practices for organic food
Primary smoke condensate: purified water-based part of condensed smoke falling within the definition of ‘smoke flavourings’ (→ Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003)
Primary tar fraction: the purified fraction of the water-insoluble high-density tar phase of condensed smoke falling within the definition of ‘smoke flavourings’ (→ Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003)
Primary products: primary smoke condensates and primary tar fractions (→ Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003). Base material for both smoke flavourings and purified smoke.
Primary products – conditions for production: → Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003; also see recital 17 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): Class of hydrocarbon molecules that have multiple carbon rings, and that include carcinogenic substances and environmental pollutants
Purified smoke: → CleanSmoke
Quality products: Agricultural products or foodstuffs with identifiable specific characteristics, in particular those linked to their geographical origin (protected designations of origin (PDO), protected geographical indications (PGI) and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG)) as well as mountain products and products of island farming (Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs). An example for smoked quality products are, for instance, Ail fumé d’Arleux
Regenerated smoke: → CleanSmoke
Sawdust: Powdery particles of wood produced by sawing
Shelf-life (technically “date of minimum durability of a food”): the date until which the food retains its specific properties when properly stored (Article 2(2)(r) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011); prolonged by smoking processes
Smoke: Gaseous products of burning materials especially of organic origin made visible by the presence of small particles of carbon
Smoke cloud: The visible phase of smoke generated by either → CleanSmoke or → conventional smoke
Smoke condensates (fish) (in the definition of the Codex Alimentarius standard): Products obtained by controlled thermal degradation of wood in a limited supply of oxygen (pyrolysis), subsequent condensation of the resultant smoke vapours, and fractionation of the resulting liquid products.
Smoke flavouring: Product obtained by fractionation and purification of a condensed smoke yielding primary smoke condensates, primary tar fractions and/or derived smoke flavourings as defined in points (1), (2) and (4) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003 (→ Article 3(2)(f) of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008)
Smoking: A process of intentionally exposing food to smoke.
Smoking of fish (in the definition of the Codex Alimentarius standard): A process of treating fish by exposing it to smoke from smouldering wood or plant materials. This process is usually characterised by an integrated combination of salting, drying, heating and smoking steps in a smoking chamber.
Smoking of fish by regenerated smoke (in the definition of the Codex Alimentarius standard): A process of treating fish by exposing it to smoke which is regenerated by atomizing smoke condensate in a smoking chamber under the time and temperature conditions similar to those for hot or cold smoking.
Smoking kiln: A furnace or oven for smoking foodstuffs
Smouldering smoke: Smoke generated by the glowing of wood shavings (introduced by a glow rod, for example). In the smouldering smoke process, combustion heat is used for pyrolysis (decomposition) of the wood (= exothermic smoke generation process). (German: Glimmrauch).
Steam smoke (or condensate smoke process): Overheated low pressure steam (of a temperature of 300 to 400 °C) applied to wood chips, releasing solid and liquid substances from these. In the feed pipes to the smoking chamber, the gas/solid mixture cools to a temperature of around 80 °C, becomes moist and condenses on to the smoked goods, meaning that smoke is applied to food products in its aqueous state. (German: Dampfrauchverfahren)
Tar: Dark brown or black bituminous usually odorous viscous liquid obtained by destructive distillation of organic material (such as wood, coal, or peat)
Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI): Estimate of the amount of a substance in air, food or drinking water that can be taken in daily over a lifetime without appreciable health risk
Touch smoke: Smoke produced by pressing wooden discs against a heating plate. The heat required to decompose the wood is not generated by a combustion process, but is supplied from the outside via the heating plate (= endothermic smoke generation process).
Traditional smoke: Not legally defined
Use of purified smoke: Smoke generated from purified primary smoke condensates used to smoke the product in a smoke chamber (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2031 establishing best available techniques (BAT) conclusions for the food, drink and milk industries)
Untreated wood: Wood not treated, whether intentionally or unintentionally, with chemical substances during the six months immediately preceding felling or subsequent thereto (→ Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003), as well as herbs, spices, twigs of juniper and twigs, needles and cones of picea (→ Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2065/2003)