Ingredient management

beCPG offers a complete solution for tracing ingredients from raw materials to the finished product. More than a list of ingredients, it holds essential data such as the biological and geographical origin of components, the presence of GMOs or ionizing elements, and other specifics required for labeling.

Ingredient management for raw materials

Raw materials are made up of ingredients. An ingredient is a component used in the preparation or manufacture of a product. There are several types of raw materials, depending on their ingredients:

• Unprocessed raw materials, made up of a single, generally natural, unprocessed ingredient (e.g. wheat, milk, fruit, vegetables).
• Intermediate raw materials, made up of a processed ingredient defined by regulations (e.g. flour, sugar, oil, concentrates).
• Compound raw materials, mixtures of raw ingredients (e.g. chocolate, fillings, ham).

Ingredients are managed at the raw materials level. To do this, select the "Ingredient" list, then "Add an item", and fill in its characteristics:

• Ingredient: the drop-down list corresponds to the ingredients available in the administration characteristics; click here for more information.
• Quantity: The average percentage of the ingredient in the raw material.
• Mini: The minimum percentage of the ingredient in the raw material.
• Maxi: The maximum percentage of the ingredient in the raw material.
• GMO: Check if the ingredient is a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism).
• Ionized: Check if the ingredient is treated by ionization.
• Processing aid: Check if the ingredient is considered a processing aid within the meaning of Article 3(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.
• Carrier: Check if the ingredient is considered a carrier according to regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.
• Geographical origin: Indicate where the ingredient is grown. The drop-down list corresponds to the geographical origins available in the characteristics of the administration.
• Country of transfo : Indicate the ingredient's processing origin. The drop-down list corresponds to the geographical origins available in the administration characteristics.
• Biological origin: The drop-down list corresponds to the biological origins available in the administration characteristics.
• Claim: Linked to the ingredient (e.g. EU organic agriculture).
• Additional information: Lets you add a complement to the legal name (e.g. ingredient = "flavouring" and additional information = "strawberry").
• Decl. Type: As in the composition, declaration types are available at ingredient level. Click here for more information.
• Alias: Lets you add alternative declarations to an ingredient (e.g. vitamin C, alias ascorbic acid). For example, an ingredient can have 10 aliases; when the ingredient is added to a raw material, 3 of the 10 aliases can be locked. At finished product level, you can then choose (with the renaming rule) only among these 3 locked aliases. Aliases can be excluded from the search.
• Parent: Used for compound ingredients, it lets you define an ingredient as the parent of other ingredients (e.g. to declare the components of a chocolate, the chocolate must be the parent of these ingredients). The detail can then be collapsed or expanded to make long ingredient lists easier to read.

Total ingredients must equal 100%.

Modify or create an ingredient

Ingredients can be modified and created in the administration area. Click here for more information.

Ingredient formulation

Formulation calculates the quantity of ingredients present in the product, based on the quantity of raw materials added to the composition and their ingredient lists. Click here for more information. Ingredients are listed flat, except when parent ingredients are used: in this case, the ingredients remain grouped together.

Several columns are available:

• Quantity: average quantity of the ingredient in the product
• Quantity with yield: quantity with yield and water loss taken into account
• Quantity as prepared: quantity with yield, water loss and secondary yield taken into account. Click here for more information.
• Optimization target
• Optimization result
• Conformity: Linked to the product specification, alerts you to the presence of a non-compliant ingredient. Click here for more information.

Note: ingredients with identical percentages are sorted in lexicographical order. Special characters and numbers are considered before alphabetical characters. Upper case letters are considered before lower case letters. e.g. "A" comes before "a", "Sodium Acetate" (where "Acetate" begins with an uppercase "A") will be placed before "acacia" (where "acacia" begins with a lowercase "a").

Dangerous substances management

The regulation of hazardous substances is based on several legislative and regulatory texts. They rely in particular on European regulations such as REACH. These substances, classified as CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic), endocrine disruptors or SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) must be identified and controlled throughout the product life cycle. In this context, the list of substances of concern makes it possible to monitor and analyze their presence.

Add a dangerous substance to an entity

The beCPG database includes a selection of substances to be configured as hazardous substances with their associated hazard type (carcinogenic, mutagenic, etc.), in accordance with Article 57 of the REACH regulation.

In the ingredient list

Hazardous substances can be managed directly in the list of ingredients. This is a fairly common situation, particularly in cosmetics, where certain ingredients can be classified as substances to be monitored. Add the substance as an ingredient in the raw material, and it will automatically be included in the list of dangerous substances.

It appears automatically with the quantity used, making it easy to track its impact on finished products.

In the list of dangerous substances

It is also possible to add the substance manually to the "Dangerous substances" list if it is not an ingredient, and to enter the quantity and migration rate for packaging (i.e. the proportion of the substance likely to pass from the material to the finished product). Management does not stop at the mere presence of the substance. The system also takes into account the migration rate, when this information is available. This gives a more accurate picture of what is actually present in the final product. This is useful for food and cosmetics products, where the impact of packaging on the formula can be real.

Indeed, certain materials used for packaging or cooking can release undesirable substances into the food. This is the case, for example, with certain plasticizers present in bottles, inks used on food jars, or fluorinated compounds (PFAS) (source: Le Monde). Bisphenol A (BPA) is also concerned and is now subject to European regulation (EU) 2024/3190. This regulation prohibits its use in materials in contact with foodstuffs.

Modify or create a hazardous substance

Dangerous substances are created and modified in the administration. Click here for more information.

Formulation of dangerous substances

The list of hazardous substances is compiled automatically from the raw materials and packaging used in the recipe. As soon as an ingredient or packaging contains a dangerous substance, it is automatically identified. It then appears in the list of dangerous substances for the finished product. Its name, category (CMR, SVHC, PE...) and quantity are automatically formulated.

It is also possible to display details of the origin of each substance, with a precise breakdown between the contribution of raw materials and that of packaging. This enables you to quickly see where a substance comes from and at what level it is used.

Dangerous substance claims

In beCPG, claims are automatically calculated from the data entered. The system checks whether relevant substances are present and whether their concentration exceeds the threshold. For example, if a package contains more than 0.1% lead, it will not be possible to display the claim “SVHC-free”. However, if no such substance is detected above the threshold, the claim is granted.

Ingredient toxicity management

The ingredient toxicology module is based on three beCPG administration lists, to be managed in this order:

• Ingredient Characteristics: using the Toxicology tab, you can enter the various toxicological data for your ingredients. For more information, click here.
• Toxicity Characteristics: For more information, click here.
• Ingredient Toxicology Characteristics: For more information, click here.

Raw material toxicities

The toxicities that appear depend on the ingredients present in the ingredient list. These must be present in the administration's “Ingredient Toxicology” list. The Toxicity list can be added to the raw material template so that it appears for all raw materials.

• Toxicity: the name of the toxicity appears here.
• Relative maximum quantity (%): all ingredients with the same toxicity appear here. To see which ingredients cause the toxicity, click the three dots and then "Details".
• Manual: If the percentage reported by the automatic calculation is not correct, you can modify the toxicity concerned and check the "Manual" field. In this case, even if the raw material is reformulated, the manual percentage will be retained.

By default, the "Manual" field is unchecked, which allows the toxicity data reported by the system to be automatically retrieved.

It is also possible to manually add toxicities by clicking the "Add" button. Remember to check the "Manual" field.

Toxicities of a semi-finished or finished product

Formulation calculates the "Relative maximum quantity (%)" based on the toxicities present in the raw materials that make up the semi-finished product or finished product. For a given toxicity, it is the lowest (most restrictive) percentage that is reported to the entity.

To see which ingredients contribute to the toxicity, click the three dots and then "Show characteristics details".

The details of the calculations are shown in the table below:

• RO: rinse-off
• LO: leave-on