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Title: Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants

Author
item Riley, Ronald

Submitted to: World Health Organization
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2011
Publication Date: 11/1/2011
Citation: Members of Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), Riley, R.T. 2011. Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. In: Seventy-fourth meeting of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives, June 14-23, 2011, Rome, Italy. WHO Technical Report Series. 966:1-136.

Interpretive Summary: The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) met in Rome from 14 to 23 June 2011. The purpose of the committee was to provide the Codex Alimentarius Commission access with objective advice on high priority food safety matters. Specifically, the tasks before the Committee were: i) to elaborate further principles for evaluating the safety of food additives and contaminants in food; ii) to undertake toxicological evaluations of certain food additives; iii) to review and prepare specifications for certain food additives; iv) to undertake toxicological evaluations of certain contaminants in food. The Committee evaluated four food additives for the first time and re-evaluated a number of others. The Committee also evaluated two food contaminants, cyanogenic glycosides and fumonisins. For the current evaluation of fumonisins, the Committee reviewed all relevant studies performed on fumonisins since 2001. The Committee evaluated studies with purified fumonisin B1 and Fusarium verticillioides culture material separately. For pure FB1, the Committee derived a provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 µg/kg body weight per day. This was the same value as the previously established group PMTDI for FB1, FB2 and FB3, alone or in combination.

Technical Abstract: The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) met in Rome from 14 to 23 June 2011. The purpose of the committee was to provide the Codex Alimentarius Commission access with objective advice on high priority food safety matters. Specifically, the tasks before the Committee were: i) to elaborate further principles for evaluating the safety of food additives and contaminants in food; ii) to undertake toxicological evaluations of certain food additives; iii) to review and prepare specifications for certain food additives; iv) to undertake toxicological evaluations of certain contaminants in food. The Committee evaluated four food additives for the first time and re-evaluated a number of others. The Committee also evaluated two food contaminants, cyanogenic glycosides and fumonisins. For the current evaluation of fumonisins, the Committee reviewed all relevant studies performed on fumonisins since 2001. The Committee evaluated studies with purified fumonisin B1 and Fusarium verticillioides culture material separately. For pure FB1, the Committee derived a provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 µg/kg body weight per day. This was the same value as the previously established group PMTDI for FB1, FB2 and FB3, alone or in combination.