Food additives are substances added to food to maintain or improve its safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance. Food additives need to be checked for potential harmful effects on human health before they can be used. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), is the international body responsible for evaluating the safety of food additives. Only food additives that have been evaluated and deemed safe by JECFA, on the basis of which maximum use levels have been established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, can be used in foods that are traded internationally.