South America Food & Flavor Regulatory Update

Key Legal and Regulatory Developments | August 31–September 15, 2026

This South American regulatory news update comes from official regulatory/government sources and specialized Latin American food-regulatory reporting across Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela, using the publication window August 31 through September 15, 2026. The focus was given to developments material to food, beverage, flavor, ingredient, supplement, labeling, packaging/food-contact and food-safety businesses. Routine recalls and general food-industry news were excluded unless they reflected a broader regulatory or enforcement issue.

What is noteworthy includes the following 13 material developments.

1. Brazil — Deadline arrives for new food and supplement regularization regime | September 1

Brazil's ANVISA reminded companies that September 1, 2026 marked the end of the transition period under RDC 843/2024 for certain food products. Dietary supplements and weight-control foods previously communicated to local sanitary authorities generally must now be notified to ANVISA to maintain their regulatory status. Products properly communicated by August 31, 2024 and manufactured by September 1 may continue to be sold until expiry even without the new notification. ANVISA stressed that notification does not replace other obligations, including stability studies and technical requirements under RDC 243/2018. The change is particularly important for supplement, functional-ingredient and contract-manufacturing companies. Serviços e Informações do Brasil

ANVISA — Food regularization transition deadline

2. Brazil — ANVISA extends consultation on new cocoa and chocolate rules | September 1

ANVISA extended until October 13 the period for technical submissions concerning implementation of Brazil's new Law 15.404/2026 on cocoa-derived products and chocolate. The law establishes composition requirements, product definitions, naming rules and mandatory disclosure of total cocoa percentage on the principal display panel. Issues under regulatory review include calculation of cocoa solids, limits for shells and other cocoa-bean byproducts, use of non-cocoa vegetable fats, milk solids, traceability and compliance verification. The law takes effect May 6, 2027. This is a major development for chocolate manufacturers and suppliers of cocoa, dairy ingredients, fats, flavors and inclusions. Serviços e Informações do Brasil

ANVISA — Consultation extension for Law 15.404/2026

3. Ecuador — ARCSA updates rules for outsourced food testing | September 1

Ecuador formally published Resolution ARCSA-DE-2026-004-DASP, introducing version 5.0 of its instructions governing outsourced laboratory analysis of processed foods, dietary supplements and foods for special dietary uses. The framework also regulates registration of conformity-assessment organizations and replaces the previous version issued in 2024. Laboratories generally must be recognized through Ecuador's accreditation system and comply with relevant ISO/IEC 17025 requirements. The procedure establishes requirements for sample handling, testing, reporting, inspections and removal of noncompliant organizations from the approved register. For food and flavor manufacturers, the measure directly affects laboratories used for regulatory compliance and post-notification quality-control testing. Registro Oficial

Ecuador Registro Oficial — Resolution ARCSA-DE-2026-004-DASP

4. Brazil — Superior Court to examine gluten-warning requirements | September 2

Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ) scheduled a public hearing concerning Tema 1.343, a potentially significant packaged-food labeling case. The court will determine whether the statement “CONTÉM GLÚTEN” (“contains gluten”) satisfies legal requirements or whether manufacturers must also state that gluten is harmful to people with celiac disease. The September 23 hearing will examine medical evidence, consumer law, sanitary regulation and the economic and regulatory consequences of an additional warning. The resulting precedent could have broad implications for packaged-food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers and label-compliance programs throughout Brazil, particularly products containing wheat, barley, rye or derivatives. Superior Court of Justice

Brazil STJ — Public hearing on gluten labeling

5. Chile — Supreme Court ruling reinforces health authority's role in pesticide-food violations | September 7

Chile's Supreme Court confirmed the authority of sanitary regulators to make the underlying determination that food pesticide-residue requirements have been violated before associated legal consequences proceed, according to regional regulatory monitoring published during the period. The development matters for growers, importers, processors and ingredient companies handling agricultural commodities because pesticide-residue compliance sits at the intersection of agricultural controls and food-safety enforcement. For flavor businesses, botanical extracts, herbs, spices, fruit preparations and other agricultural raw materials can present particular residue-management issues. The ruling reinforces the importance of supplier specifications, residue testing and documentation demonstrating compliance with Chilean maximum-residue requirements. infoAlimentario

Regional regulatory report — Chile pesticide ruling

6. Chile — Government intensifies enforcement of Meat Law | September 7

Chile's Ministry of Agriculture and SAG intensified inspections under the country's Meat Law ahead of the Fiestas Patrias consumption period. Authorities are checking origin, grading, labeling, names of meat cuts, product display and traceability throughout the meat chain. By August, SAG had conducted 3,939 inspections during 2026 and issued 245 infringement notices, against 7,246 inspections planned for the year. The enforcement campaign is relevant to meat processors, seasoning and flavor suppliers, distributors and retailers because documentation and labeling failures can trigger enforcement even where the underlying food is otherwise safe. Traceability was highlighted as a central regulatory requirement. Minagri

Chile Ministry of Agriculture — Meat Law enforcement campaign

7. Peru — INACAL approves new technical standard for carrots | September 9

Peru's national standards authority, INACAL, approved NTP 011.711:2026, Vegetables and Derived Products — Carrot — Requirements, First Edition, according to regional regulatory reporting. The technical standard establishes standardized requirements for carrots and their commercialization/quality framework. While narrower than the major labeling and food-safety developments elsewhere in the region, it is relevant to growers, produce exporters, processors and manufacturers sourcing carrot-derived ingredients. Food and flavor companies using carrot concentrates, juices, powders, natural colors or vegetable preparations should monitor how the standard interacts with purchasing specifications and supplier quality programs. INACAL also continued public consultations on additional technical standards during September. infoAlimentario

INACAL — Technical standards under public consultation

8. Uruguay — Honey industry moves toward BPA-free food-contact drums | September 10

Uruguay's Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries recommended that the honey supply chain transition to food-grade drums with BPA-free coatings. The measure responds partly to European Union restrictions on bisphenol A in food-contact materials and anticipated MERCOSUR movement in the same direction. Resolution 118/026 already requires honey and apiculture products exported to the EU to use packaging certified as BPA-free. Authorities recommended that drum suppliers offer only BPA-free containers, exporters stop returning BPA-containing drums into the production circuit, and beekeepers purchase BPA-free containers. The development signals broader food-contact-material implications for ingredient exporters across MERCOSUR. Gub.uy

Uruguay MGAP — BPA-free honey drum recommendation

9. Brazil — ANVISA advances update to permitted supplement constituents and claims | September 10–15

ANVISA made available a proposed Instrução Normativa updating IN 28/2018, Brazil's central list governing permitted dietary-supplement constituents, conditions and limits of use, authorized claims and supplementary labeling requirements. The draft was posted September 10 and updated September 15 for consideration by ANVISA's collegiate board. Because Brazil uses positive lists and specified conditions for supplement ingredients, revisions can directly determine whether particular substances can be formulated into supplements and at what levels. The development is especially important for flavor houses supplying functional systems, botanical preparations, vitamins, minerals and other supplement ingredients because formulation, claims and label language can all be affected. Serviços e Informações do Brasil

ANVISA — Draft regulatory instruments

10. Venezuela — SECAMER reviews standard for fruit pulps, juices, concentrates and nectars | September 11

Venezuela's standards authority SECAMER moved forward with review of COVENIN 1030:2026, covering food products including fruit pulps, juices, concentrated juices and nectars. The standard is directly relevant to beverage manufacturers and suppliers of juice concentrates, fruit preparations, flavors, sweeteners and related ingredients because COVENIN specifications can establish identity, composition and quality parameters used in the Venezuelan market. Companies supplying juice or nectar products should monitor the final technical requirements and compare them with current formulations, soluble-solids specifications, fruit-content declarations and product naming. The development was reported September 11 as part of ongoing Latin American food-regulatory standardization activity. infoAlimentario

Regional regulatory tracker — Venezuela COVENIN 1030:2026

11. Colombia — INVIMA targets unauthorized sports/nutrition claims on 42 foods | September 14

Colombia's INVIMA issued an alert concerning 42 foods and beverages promoted improperly as sports, nutritional or energy supplements. Although the products possess food registrations or notifications, INVIMA said their advertising attributed benefits that had not been authorized, including increased or recovered muscle mass and improved physical performance. The action illustrates the distinction between having legal authorization to sell a food and having authorization to make particular health, performance or supplement-type claims. Food, beverage, functional-ingredient and flavor companies selling into Colombia should therefore ensure that digital marketing, packaging, distributor materials and influencer communications remain consistent with the regulatory category and approved claims of the product. Invima

INVIMA — Alert covering 42 improperly promoted foods

12. Chile — Food inspections trigger sanitary proceedings and seizures | September 14–15

Chile's Metropolitan Health Authority intensified food-safety enforcement immediately before Fiestas Patrias, opening sanitary proceedings against three butcher shops in Estación Central and seizing approximately 80 kilograms of meat and cheese. Inspectors identified products lacking required labeling identifying origin, expiration dates and storage conditions, together with structural and hygiene deficiencies. Authorities emphasized that butcher shops must comply with Chile's Food Sanitary Regulation. Although this is an enforcement action rather than new legislation, it provides a current indication of enforcement priorities: traceability, expiration information, storage instructions, sanitation and compliant labeling. Ingredient and food suppliers should ensure downstream customers receive sufficient product documentation. Seremi 13 Red Salud

Chile Metropolitan Health Authority — September food enforcement action

13. Brazil — ANVISA clarifies processing-aid and flavor/ingredient rules following food misinformation | September 15

ANVISA issued a regulatory clarification after online claims alleged that filled biscuits contained petroleum-derived ingredients. The agency explained that substances such as hexane can legally be used as processing aids during extraction or processing of oils and fats under IN 211/2023, provided applicable conditions and limits are satisfied. Processing aids differ legally from ingredients and food additives because they perform a technological function during manufacturing and are intended to be removed, apart from technically unavoidable safe residues. ANVISA also clarified that biscuits generally follow a simplified regulatory pathway rather than individual premarket registration. The clarification is particularly relevant to flavor, extraction, oils and ingredient-processing businesses. Serviços e Informações do Brasil

ANVISA — Clarification on processing aids, ingredients and hexane

Regulatory significance for flavor and ingredient companies

Across the period, the most directly consequential developments for the flavor and ingredient sector appear to be Brazil's cocoa/chocolate implementation process, supplement-ingredient and claims updates, Ecuador's laboratory-testing framework, Colombia's enforcement against unauthorized functional claims, Venezuela's juice/nectar standard, Uruguay's BPA-free food-contact initiative, and Brazil's clarification of processing aids.

The broader regional pattern is noteworthy: regulators are increasingly scrutinizing not only what is in a food, but also how ingredients are classified, what claims are made, how products are labeled, how packaging contacts food, how laboratory compliance is demonstrated, and how products are marketed digitally.

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