This report represents the conclusions of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee convened to evaluate the safety of various food additives, with a view to recommending acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) and to prepare specifications for the identity and purity of food additives.The first part of the report contains a general discussion of the principles governing the toxicological evaluation of food additives (including flavoring agents) and contaminants, assessments of intake, and the establishment and revision of specifications for food additives. A summary follows of the Committee's evaluations of toxicological and intake data on various specific food additives (benzoyl peroxide, a-cyclodextrin, hexose oxidase, from Chondrus crispus expressed in Hansenula polymorpha, lutein from Tagetes erecta L., peroxyacid antimicrobial solutions containing 1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP), steviol glycosides, D-tagatose, xylanases from Bacillus subtilis expressed in B. subtilis, zeaxanthin), flavoring agents, and a natural constituent (glycyrrhizinic acid). Annexed to the report are tables summarizing the Committee's recommendations for ADIs of the food additives, recommendations on the flavoring agents and natural constituent considered, changes in the status of specifications, and further information requested or desired.