Article 3 of the Food Hygiene Control Act defines a food additive as "any substance added to or coming into contact with a food product in the course of manufacture, transportation or storage, and used in order to color, flavor, preserve, emulsify, aromatize, stabilize, thicken, enrich, or protect from oxidation."
根據「食品衛生管理法」第三條，食品添加物的定義為：食品從製造到運送、貯藏等過程中，用以著色、調味、防腐、乳化、增加香味、安定品質、促進稠度、增加營養、防止氧化，而添加或接觸於食物的物質。