This report represents the conclusions of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee convened to evaluate the safety of various food additives, including flavoring agents, and to prepare specifications for identity and purity. The first part of the report contains a general discussion of the principles governing the toxicological evaluation of and assessment of dietary exposure to food additives, including flavoring agents. A summary follows of the Committee's evaluations of technical, toxicological and dietary exposure data for eight food additives (Benzoe tonkinensis; carrageenan; citric and fatty acid esters of glycerol; gardenia yellow; lutein esters from Tagetes erecta; octenyl succinic acid-modified gum arabic; octenyl succinic acid-modified starch; paprika extract; and pectin) and eight groups of flavoring agents (aliphatic and alicyclic hydrocarbons; aliphatic and aromatic ethers; ionones and structurally related substances; miscellaneous nitrogen-containing substances; monocyclic and bicyclic secondary alcohols, ketones and related esters; phenol and phenol derivatives; phenyl-substituted aliphatic alcohols and related aldehydes and esters; and sulfur-containing heterocyclic compounds).Specifications for the following food additives were revised: citric acid; gellan gum; polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monostearate; potassium aluminium silicate; and Quillaia extract (Type 2).Annexed to the report are tables summarizing the Committee's recommendations for dietary exposures to and toxicological evaluations of all of the food additives and flavoring agents considered at this meeting.