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Insights & Updates

ASEAN flavour trends, reformulation for salt and fat reduction, halal and FSSC regulatory notes, and company milestones. From Singapore's original flavour house.

Laboratory staff working at analytical instruments with sample bottles on shelves

Regulation11 October 2026

What Is Liquid Smoke? Smoke Flavouring Rules for Food Buyers

This guide summarises selected EU, Singapore, US and Indonesian rules that bear on liquid smoke, what happened to the EU Union list in 2024, what EFSA concluded about the products it assessed, and what to ask a supplier.

7 min readRead article

Coconut halves and pieces on a wooden surface

Regulation7 min read

Palm Sugar, Gula Melaka or Coconut Sugar? What Each Name Means

The names overlap and change with the market. This guide sets out how Malaysia's Food Regulations, Indonesia's BPOM food categories and a Philippine National Standard define gula melaka, gula kabong, gula palma and coconut sap sugar, how Malaysia and Indonesia word a no added sugar claim, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Citrus halves and peel on a wooden surface

Regulation8 min read

Calamansi Extract, Juice or Flavour? What the Label Rules Say

PNS/BAFPS 30:2005 covers fresh calamondin/calamansi fruit, and Singapore's Food Regulations separately address fruit juice and natural flavouring essences or extracts. This guide sets out what that standard, Singapore's Food Regulations, EU and US flavouring rules and a Philippine Department of Health labelling order say, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Laboratory analyst working at an analytical instrument beside sample bottles

Regulation8 min read

Annatto Colour: Label Names, ADIs and Market Rules

Annatto comes from the seeds of Bixa orellana. The EU's 18 August 2026 consolidated additive list contains E 160b(i) Annatto bixin and E 160b(ii) Annatto norbixin; Regulation 2020/771 explains that they have different ADIs. This guide sets out what JECFA, EFSA, the EU and five Southeast Asian regulators say, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Laboratory analyst at an analytical instrument with a chromatogram on the monitor

Regulation8 min read

Butterfly Pea Flower Colour: Rules, Labels and Supplier Questions

In the US, butterfly pea flower extract is a colour additive listed in 21 CFR 73.69 (eCFR version of 6 October 2026) for a defined set of foods. Searches of the EU food additive regulation and Union list of novel foods (August 2026 consolidations) found no matches for "ternatea", "clitoria", "butterfly" or "blue pea", and the Commission's non-binding Novel Food status Catalogue, latest update 8 May 2023 and read on 11 October 2026, gives the flowers the status "NOT NOVEL IN FOOD SUPPLEMENTS". Thailand's FDA names it, as อัญชัน, on its list of plants or animals permitted for colour extracts, updated 24 July 2026 (our translation; Buddhist Era date converted). This guide sets out what each text says and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Whole star anise pods with cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and cloves beside a wooden spoon of black peppercorns on a dark wooden surface

Regulation7 min read

Chinese vs Japanese Star Anise: Rules, Names and Supplier Questions

The star anise used as a food spice is Chinese star anise, Illicium verum. The FDA (2003) and Health Canada (2004) issued advisories naming Japanese star anise, Illicium anisatum; the European Commission set import conditions in 2002, repealed in 2003; and Japan's health ministry instructed quarantine stations in 2010. Malaysia's Food Regulations 1985 (updated until August 2026) require star anise to be "free from admixture by Illicium anisatum". This guide sets out what each authority said, how the spice is named and labelled, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Knobbly ginger rhizomes beside a pale, pink-tinged rhizome cut into slices, with a knife on a dark wooden board

Regulation6 min read

Greater vs Lesser Galangal: Names, Rules and Supplier Questions

Official texts attach the name galangal or galanga to different plants. GRIN, the US Department of Agriculture's plant database, records "greater galanga" for Alpinia galanga and "lesser galangal" for Alpinia officinarum. 21 CFR 182.10 (eCFR version of 6 October 2026) names Alpinia officinarum; Singapore's list of Chinese medicinal materials commonly used in food (as at November 2025) lists it as "Lesser galangal rhizome"; and Indonesia's herbal pharmacopoeia (2017) defines lengkuas rhizome as the rhizome of Alpinia galanga (our translation). This guide sets out the names, how galangal differs from ginger on paper, how it appears on labels, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Knotted pandan leaves and two pale lemongrass stalks, one split lengthwise, with glossy green leaves on a wooden table beside a stone mortar

Regulation6 min read

Lemongrass for Food Buyers: Species, Names and Labels

Official texts attach the name lemongrass to more than one Cymbopogon species. GRIN, the US Department of Agriculture's plant database, records "lemongrass" as an English name for both Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon flexuosus. 21 CFR 182.20 (eCFR version of 6 October 2026) lists two Cymbopogon names against "Lemon grass"; the Institute for Standardization of Serbia's project page for draft ISO/FDIS 25261 (stage dated 16 September 2026) names Cymbopogon citratus L. in its scope. Indonesia's herbal pharmacopoeia (2017) ties the name sereh to Andropogon nardus (our translation). This guide compares the names and forms these texts record, how lemongrass can appear on labels, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

A woman at an office desk comparing a printed sheet with the label on a kraft pouch, beside a laptop

Regulation7 min read

Tamarind for Food Buyers: Names, Forms and Labels

Every official text in this guide that names the plant behind tamarind gives Tamarindus indica: 21 CFR 182.20 (eCFR version of 6 October 2026), Thailand's voluntary sweet tamarind standard TAS 23-2014 and a Philippine final draft standard dated 29 June 2015. Indonesia's herbal pharmacopoeia (2017) defines daun asam as the leaf of Tamarindus indica (our translation). Thai community product standards also use tamarind or มะขาม in drink titles whose definitions give botanical names other than Tamarindus indica. This guide sets out what the texts call tamarind, what they mean by sweet tamarind, which forms have their own standards, how labels name them, and what to ask a supplier.

11 October 2026

Education8 min read

Pandan Flavour and 2AP: Why the Aroma Fades

The major compound behind pandan leaf's characteristic flavour is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, and researchers describe it as highly unstable. What published studies show about extracting it and protecting it, how heat and starch affected it in specific trials, and how JECFA and FEMA list it.

10 October 2026

Education8 min read

What Is Vanillin? Sources, Labelling and Safety

Vanillin is a single flavour compound, and a 2024 review states that vanilla beans can meet about 1% of annual vanillin demand. How it is made from guaiacol, eugenol, lignin and ferulic acid, what EU, US, Indonesian and Singapore texts say about calling it natural, and how JECFA evaluated it in 2001.

10 October 2026

An amber beverage being poured over ice in a clear glass

Regulation4 min read

Sugar Reduction for Malaysian Beverage Makers

If you make beverages in Malaysia, sugar reduction is measured by the finished drink's total sugars. The current rate is RM0.90 per litre, with category-specific exemptions and proof conditions. VKA offers sweetness enhancement, off-note masking and mouthfeel restoration.

3 October 2026

A hand selecting golden durian flesh from an opened fruit

Regulation6 min read

Halal Flavourings in Malaysia: MUIS and BPJPH

MUIS and BPJPH are on JAKIM's foreign-body list effective 21 August 2026. For you, certificate scope and raw-material evidence still matter.

3 October 2026

Regulation6 min read

Importing Flavouring into Thailand: Licence Steps

Importing flavouring for sale in Thailand requires a food import licence, a food serial number and a License per Invoice for each import. Thai FDA lists six steps from licensing to checkpoint inspection.

3 October 2026

A VKA flavourist holding an amber sample bottle and writing laboratory evaluation notes, with a colleague working behind her

Regulation6 min read

Approving an Imported Flavour Supplier in the Philippines

Approve an imported flavour supplier by checking the importer's licence, the product CPR, flavouring-substance documentation and halal evidence. Confirm the own-use route with the FDA before relying on it.

3 October 2026

Amber jars of powdered flavouring beside a scoop on a laboratory bench

Regulation5 min read

Halal Flavourings in Vietnam: Decree 127/2026 Explained

Under Decree 127/2026/ND-CP, Article 10(1)-(2), halal certification in Vietnam is voluntary unless a Vietnamese sector ministry’s legal document requires it for specific products or services. Article 26(2)(c) permits a foreign certifier’s halal mark only where the Ministry of Science and Technology recognises that certifier under Article 16.

3 October 2026

Flavour samples beside documents used to check ingredient and label wording

Regulation6 min read

Labelling Flavourings in Vietnam: What 2026 Rules Say

Law on Food Safety 55/2010/QH12, Article 44(2)(b), requires food additives to carry “phụ gia thực phẩm” plus scope, dose and use. Decree 37/2026/ND-CP, Articles 97(1) and 97(4)(b)-(c), took effect on 23 January 2026 and repealed Decrees 43/2017 and 111/2021. Its Article 48(3)(a) prescribes the flavouring words used in a food’s ingredient list.

3 October 2026

Two iced drinks labelled Original and 30% Less Sugar, garnished with citrus and pandan

Regulation7 min read

Nutri-Grade Thresholds in Singapore: Drinks and Sauces

Nutri-Grade grades drinks A to D on sugar and saturated fat per 100 ml. The planned mid-2027 extension grades prepacked sauces, seasonings, instant noodles, salt and cooking oil by sub-category. Grades C and D carry a front-of-pack label. Grade D cannot be advertised, apart from point-of-sale material for prepacked drinks in shops such as supermarkets. The 2027 thresholds are published but not yet gazetted.

3 October 2026

A green drink beside leafy greens, green powder, turmeric and dark nibs on a wooden table

Regulation5 min read

Healthier Choice Symbol vs Nutri-Grade: Which Applies

Nutri-Grade is a legal requirement for Singapore drinks, while the Healthier Choice Symbol is a voluntary HPB licence. HCS drinks are Grade A or B, and a reformulated HCS product needs a new application. The planned mid-2027 extension covers prepacked sauces, seasonings, instant noodles, salt and cooking oil; its thresholds are not yet gazetted.

3 October 2026

A chef adding herbs to grilled skewers served with rice and sliced cucumber

Regulation5 min read

Singapore Food Safety and Security Act: Flavour Impact

The Food Safety and Security Act 2025 will repeal the Sale of Food Act 1973, but the repeal has not commenced. Only tranche 1 is in force: since 28 November 2025 it is an offence to supply defined food, which includes novel food without pre-market approval, and the Act governs non-packaged drinking water. Regulations 22 and 23 of the Food Regulations still govern flavours.

3 October 2026

A baker in a hairnet leaning over a tray of freshly baked buns and loaf cakes, their browned crusts in front of an oven

Education8 min read

Heat-Stable Flavours for Bakery: Surviving the Oven Without Losing Top Notes

A flavour that is perfect on the bench can arrive flat in a baked product, because the oven is the harshest step most flavours meet. What the crust and crumb actually reach, why volatile top notes like benzaldehyde are lost while vanillin holds, and the carrier, format and testing that make a flavour bake-stable.

22 September 2026

Hands arranging Southeast Asian flavour ingredients, including ube, ginger, lemongrass, pandan leaves, calamansi and palm sugar, on a woven cloth

Regulation7 min read

Halal Certification in the Philippines: Who Accredits, and What It Means When You Buy Ingredients

The DTI's Philippine Accreditation Bureau accredits the certifiers, certification is voluntary for the domestic market and required for Philippine products exported as halal, and the standard for processed food is the FDA's. What that means for the ingredients you buy.

17 September 2026

A technologist at an application bench with a glass of milk, a bowl of yoghurt and a small bottle of flavour with a dropper

Education10 min read

Flavours That Survive UHT and Retort: A Dairy Formulator's Guide

Sterilising heat rewrites a dairy flavour twice: it changes the notes you add, and it generates a cooked, sulphury character of its own that the flavour then has to sit on top of. What the peer-reviewed evidence says about UHT and retort, and how a flavour is engineered for each.

15 September 2026

A food product developer comparing two packaged-food ingredient lists side by side at a desk, one long and one short, beside a flavour supplier's specification sheet

Regulation8 min read

What Is Clean Label? A Buyer's Guide to the Claims and the Rules Behind Them

Clean label is a working term for short lists of familiar ingredients. This guide summarises selected Singapore, EU and US rules and Codex guidance on natural, no preservatives, free-from and organic claims, explains what certifier marks attest, and suggests questions for a flavour supplier.

23 June 2026

A regulatory affairs specialist checking a prepacked food product's ingredient list against a flavour supplier's specification sheet at a desk in Singapore

Regulation8 min read

How to Declare a Flavouring on a Singapore Food Label

A flavouring on a Singapore label is declared by the generic term permitted in First Schedule item 11, qualified where applicable. Regulation 5(4)(b)(vii), inserted with effect from 30 January 2026, now states expressly that a carried-over allergen may not be declared by the generic term. The clauses, verbatim, for your product development, procurement and regulatory teams.

17 June 2026

A flavourist scooping fine encapsulated flavour powder at a laboratory bench, with a microscope showing the microcapsules behind

Innovation8 min read

Why Flavour Encapsulation Matters, and How EssenceLock Works

Volatile flavour compounds are fragile, and a flavour that was perfect on the bench can arrive weak in the finished product. A factual guide to what encapsulation is, the methods, what it protects against, and how VKA's EssenceLock technology applies it.

15 June 2026

Insights10 min read

Six Shifts From the VKA ASEAN Taste Report 2026

Our annual read on the Asian palate. The six shifts shaping what Southeast Asian food and beverage makers will put in front of consumers in 2026, sorted into what wins baskets now, what is growing fast, and what is coming next, each tied to published research.

12 June 2026

Labelled amber sample bottles racked in the VKA flavour library, the amber glass and sealed caps that protect flavours from light and oxygen

Education6 min read

How Long Flavours Last, and What Wears Them Down

There is no category shelf life for a flavour. IOFI defines it as supplier-determined under stated storage conditions, and the industry's normal practice is re-testing against specification rather than one long date. What actually degrades a flavour, with the method behind each number.

11 June 2026

A row of IBC totes on the VKA production floor, the bulk liquid end of the flavour format range that runs from liquids to encapsulated powders

Education8 min read

Choosing Between Liquid, Emulsion, Spray-Dried and Encapsulated Flavours

Format is a carrier decision, and the carrier is the most tightly regulated part of a flavour specification. Measured spray-drying retention by wall material, the EU and Australian carrier ceilings and the basis each is written on, and the four questions that decide the call.

11 June 2026

A VKA flavourist dosing a flavour component by glass pipette into a beaker on a precision balance, with labelled ingredient bottles shelved behind

Education8 min read

Custom Flavour Development: From Brief to Production

A custom flavour project moves through brief, creation, bench application, sensory rounds, stability work and scale-up. What happens at each stage, what really determines MOQs and lead times, and what to prepare before you send a brief.

10 June 2026

A steaming bowl of savoury Asian noodle broth beside a small dish of flaky sea salt, the everyday sodium that salt reduction sets out to lower without losing taste

Education8 min read

Cutting Salt Without Losing Flavour

Cutting salt is harder than it looks, because sodium does far more in a recipe than taste salty. A factual guide to why salt is difficult to remove, the techniques that work, the categories where it matters most, and how a flavour house helps you reformulate.

29 May 2026

Thick creamy yogurt, milk and a swirl of cream, the rich mouthfeel that fat gives food and that fat reduction works to keep while using less of it

Education8 min read

Reducing Fat While Keeping the Texture

Taking fat out of a recipe is hard, because fat does far more than add calories. A factual guide to why fat is difficult to remove, the technique families that work, the categories where it matters most, and how a flavour house helps you reformulate.

29 May 2026

Coffee cupping with brewed cups and roasted beans, the kind of naturally bitter base whose off-notes flavour masking is built to tame

Education10 min read

Taming Bitterness and Off-Notes With Flavour Masking

Flavour masking works on three levers: blocking at the receptor, suppressing the signal, and removing the off-note at source. The measured science behind each, and why none of the Codex, EU, FSANZ or Singapore texts recognises a masking category at all.

29 May 2026

A row of vibrant flavoured drinks with fresh fruit garnish, from citrus soda to berry iced tea and a tropical cooler, the variety that beverage flavouring creates

Education8 min read

What Goes Into Flavouring a Beverage

Flavouring a drink is a different problem from flavouring a solid food. A factual guide to the beverage categories, the technical challenges unique to liquids, the formats flavours come in, and how to brief a flavour house for a drink.

29 May 2026

Hand pouring amber vanilla extract into a cream ceramic bowl with vanilla pods on navy linen

Education7 min read

Vanilla Extract vs Vanilla Concentrate vs Vanilla Flavour: What Each One Is

Vanilla concentrate needs a precise specification: US standards distinguish concentrated vanilla extract from concentrated vanilla flavouring. The term concentrate alone does not establish which standard a product meets. Confirm the product identity and the applicable local rules with your supplier.

27 May 2026

Natural fruit and botanical sources of food flavour molecules

Education8 min read

What Counts as a Natural Flavour, and What Doesn't

"Natural" is defined for a flavouring in the EU, the United States and Singapore, and is absent from the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. What FDA has never defined by rulemaking is "natural" as a claim on the food itself. The definitions verbatim, with the clause that carries each one, and why Codex has no "nature identical".

27 May 2026

Regulation8 min read

Making Sense of Halal Flavour Certification in Singapore

Halal certification is not a single global standard. MUIS in Singapore, JAKIM in Malaysia, and BPJPH in Indonesia each accept different evidence, audit differently, and accept different cross-border equivalents. A factual guide for F&B manufacturers and flavour buyers in ASEAN.

27 May 2026

ASEAN market vendor arranging pandan leaves, ube purple yam, calamansi limes, gula melaka and lemongrass on a wooden table

Insights7 min read

Why Pandan, Ube and Yuzu Are Reshaping ASEAN Flavour

A guide to tropical fruit and heritage flavours for ASEAN beverage and confectionery brands: pandan, ube, gula melaka, yuzu, calamansi, mangosteen, lychee, finger lime and pomelo.

27 May 2026

A VKA flavourist comparing and recording evaluation notes on flavour samples at the laboratory bench, with labelled amber sample bottles and a colleague working in the background

Procurement9 min read

Twelve Questions to Ask Before You Pick a Flavour Supplier in Asia

Choosing a flavour supplier in Singapore is a documentary test, not a commercial one. Twelve questions grounded in the clause that makes each answer necessary: the permitted solvent list, the sixteen prohibited substances, the allergen carry-over rule in force from 30 January 2026, SFA licensing and the MUIS halal schemes.

27 May 2026

A plant-based patty searing in a hot pan, the meat-analogue texture and browning that plant-based flavour development works to get right

Insights7 min read

The Rise of Plant-Based Alternatives in Southeast Asia

The best-measured plant-based market in the region is contracting at retail, not booming. Australian retail sales fell 1.1 per cent a year to FY23, 3.4 per cent once price is stripped out, while foodservice grew 59 per cent a year. Taste is still what decides repeat purchase.

27 February 2026

Two iced beverages side by side, one labelled Original and one 30% Less Sugar

Insights6 min read

Reformulating for ASEAN's Tightening Sugar Taxes

Paragraph 5 of the Sixteenth Schedule caps a sugar-free sweetened beverage at Nutri-Grade B, so no sweetener swap buys an A in Singapore. Vietnam's 8 per cent rate starts on 1 January 2027. The published Nutri-Grade evaluation found sugar down and sweetener use up, which is the reformulation problem in one sentence.

27 February 2026

An Asian spice market stall filled with aromatic spices and ingredients, the regional flavour landscape behind the differing taste preferences this data explores

Insights8 min read

What the Data Shows About ASEAN Flavour Preferences

70% of ASEAN consumers will pay more for unique tastes, and what counts as unique varies from Bangkok to Manila to Jakarta. Two 2026 forces now cut across that: what GLP-1 medication measurably does to a basket, and a Philippine tax exemption that pays for a stevia-forward profile.

27 February 2026

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