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 preparing specifications for identity and purity. The first part of the report contains a general discussion of the principles governing the toxicological evaluation and assessment of intake of food additives. A summary follows of the Committee's evaluations of technical, toxicological and intake data for certain food additives: branching glycosyltransferase from Rhodothermus obamensis expressed in Bacillus subtilis, cassia gum, cyclamic acid and its salts (dietary exposure assessment), cyclotetraglucose and cyclotetraglucose syrup, ferrous ammonium phosphate, glycerol ester of gum rosin, glycerol ester of tall oil rosin, lycopene from all sources, lycopene extract from tomato, mineral oil (low and medium viscosity) class II and class III, octenyl succinic acid modified gum arabic, sodium hydrogen sulfate and sucrose oligoesters type I and type II. Specifications for the following food additives were revised: diacetyltartaric acid and fatty acid esters of glycerol, ethyl lauroyl arginate, glycerol ester of wood rosin, nisin preparation, nitrous oxide, pectins, starch sodium octenyl succinate, tannic acid, titanium dioxide and triethyl citrate. Annexed to the report are tables summarizing the Committee's recommendations for intakes and toxicological evaluations of the food additives considered.
Sweet has always been a very important basic taste for mankind, although sweetness is always related to either weight gain or teeth decay. Sweeteners entered the food industry back in the 1800's and ...are now staple in foodstuffs. Despite their long relationship with food, sweeteners have been in the spotlights for many reasons. Since being the perfect choice for diabetics, to the dangers concerning toxicity, cancer and other health issues associated with their consumption, sweeteners have come a long way. The conflicting results for the same sweeteners and the divergent regulations are fuel for a wide debate on the impact of sweeteners in the industry, health and lifestyle of mankind. In this review, the history, main concerns, benefits, disadvantages, classification and future trends are revisited for nutritive, intense and natural food additives, while future perspectives are hypothesized.
•Sweeteners are essential to reduce caloric intake in diets.•Some sweeteners are still seen with distrust by consumers.•Natural sweeteners are gaining interest from consumers and companies.•There are still some legislation discrepancies among the EFSA and FDA concerning sweeteners.
Titanium dioxide (TiO
2
) is widely used in pharmaceuticals preparations, cosmetics, and as a food additive (E171). It contains microparticles and a fraction of nanoparticles (NPs) which can be ...absorbed systemically by humans after ingestion. Increasing concern has been aroused about the impact of oral exposure to TiO
2
NPs from dietary and non-dietary sources on human health. In spite of several toxicological studies conducted in recent years, a solid risk assessment of oral exposure to E171 has not been satisfactorily achieved. We investigated whether repeated oral administration of E171 to mice at a dose level (5 mg/kg body weight for 3 days/week for 3 weeks) comparable to estimated human dietary exposure, results in TiO
2
deposition in the digestive system and internal organs, and in molecular and cellular alterations associated with an inflammatory response. To reproduce the first phase of digestion, a new administration approach involving the dripping of the E171 suspension into the mouth of mice was applied. Significant accumulation of titanium was observed in the liver and intestine of E171-fed mice; in the latter a threefold increase in the number of TiO
2
particles was also measured. Titanium accumulation in liver was associated with necroinflammatory foci containing tissue monocytes/macrophages. Three days after the last dose, increased superoxide production and inflammation were observed in the stomach and intestine. Overall, the present study indicates that the risk for human health associated with dietary exposure to E171 needs to be carefully considered.
Carrageenan (CGN) is a common food additive that has been widely used for decades as a gelling, thickening and stabilizing agent. Carrageenan has been proven safe for human consumption; however, ...there has been significant confusion in the literature between CGN and the products of intentional acid-hydrolysis of CGN, which are degraded CGN (d-CGN) and poligeenan (PGN). In part, this confusion was due to the nomenclature used in early studies on CGN, where poligeenan was referred to as "degraded carrageenan" (d-CGN) and "degraded carrageenan" was simply referred to as carrageenan. Although this nomenclature has been corrected, confusion still exists resulting in misinterpretation of data and the subsequent dissemination of incorrect information regarding the safe dietary use of CGN. The lack of understanding of the molecular weight distribution of CGN has further exacerbated the issue. The significant differences in chemistry, manufacture, and protein reactivity of CGN versus d-CGN and PGN are reviewed, in addition to the in vivo toxicological profiles of CGN, d-CGN, and PGN. As CGN cannot be hydrolyzed to PGN in vivo, concerns over the use of CGN as a food additive are unfounded, particularly since current studies support the lack of oncogenic and tumorigenic activity of CGN in humans.
The female inflorescences of hops (Humulus lupulus L.), a well-known bittering agent used in the brewing industry, have long been used in traditional medicines. Xanthohumol (XN) is one of the ...bioactive substances contributing to its medical applications. Among foodstuffs XN is found primarily in beer and its natural occurrence is surveyed. In recent years, XN has received much attention for its biological effects. The present review describes the pharmacological aspects of XN and summarizes the most interesting findings obtained in the preclinical research related to this compound, including the pharmacological activity, the pharmacokinetics, and the safety of XN. Furthermore, the potential use of XN as a food additive considering its many positive biological effects is discussed.
Betanin is the only betalain approved for use in food and pharmaceutical products as a natural red colorant. However, the antioxidant power and health-promoting properties of this pigment have been ...disregarded, perhaps due to the difficulty in obtaining a stable chemical compound, which impairs its absorption and metabolism evaluation. Herein, betanin was purified by semi-preparative HPLC-LC/MS and identified by LC-ESI(+)-MS/MS as the pseudomolecular ion
/
551.16. Betanin showed significant stability up to -30 °C and mild stability at chilling temperature. The stability and antioxidant ability of this compound were assessed during a human digestion simulation and ex vivo colon fermentation. Half of the betanin amount was recovered in the small intestine digestive fluid and no traces were found after colon fermentation. Betanin high antioxidant ability was retained even after simulated small intestine digestion. Betanin, besides displaying an inherent colorant capacity, was equally effective as a natural antioxidant displaying peroxy-radical scavenger ability in pork meat. Betanin should be considered a multi-functional molecule able to confer an attractive color to frozen or refrigerated foods, but with the capacity to avoid lipid oxidation, thereby preserving food quality. Long-term supplementation by beetroot, a rich source of betanin, should be stimulated to protect organisms against oxidative stress.
Engineered nanomaterials (ENM) are used extensively in food products to fulfill a number of roles, including enhancement of color and texture, for nutritional fortification, enhanced bioavailability, ...improved barrier properties of packaging, and enhanced food preservation. Safety assessment of ingested engineered nanomaterials (iENM) has gained interest in the nanotoxicology community in recent years. A variety of test systems and approaches have been used for such evaluations, with in vitro monoculture cell models being the most common test systems, owing to their low cost and ease-of-use. The goal of this review is to systematically assess the current state of science in toxicological testing of iENM, with particular emphasis on model test systems, their physiological relevance, methodological strengths and challenges, realistic doses (ranges and rates), and then to identify future research needs and priorities based on these assessments.
Extensive searches were conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science to identify peer-reviewed literature on safety assessment of iENM over the last decade, using keywords such as "nanoparticle", "food", "toxicity", and combinations thereof. Relevant literature was assessed based on a set of criteria that included the relevance of nanomaterials tested; ENM physicochemical and morphological characterization; dispersion and dosimetry in an in vitro system; dose ranges employed, the rationale and dose realism; dissolution behavior of iENM; endpoints tested, and the main findings of each study. Observations were entered into an excel spreadsheet, transferred to Origin, from where summary statistics were calculated to assess patterns, trends, and research gaps.
A total of 650 peer-reviewed publications were identified from 2007 to 2017, of which 39 were deemed relevant. Only 21% of the studies used food grade nanomaterials for testing; adequate physicochemical and morphological characterization was performed in 53% of the studies. All in vitro studies lacked dosimetry and 60% of them did not provide a rationale for the doses tested and their relevance. Only 12% of the studies attempted to consider the dissolution kinetics of nanomaterials. Moreover, only 1 study attempted to prepare and characterize standardized nanoparticle dispersions.
We identified 5 clusters of factors deemed relevant to nanotoxicology of food-grade iENM: (i) using food-grade nanomaterials for toxicity testing; (ii) performing comprehensive physicochemical and morphological characterization of iENM in the dry state, (iii) establishing standard NP dispersions and their characterization in cell culture medium, (iv) employing realistic dose ranges and standardized in vitro dosimetry models, and (v) investigating dissolution kinetics and biotransformation behavior of iENM in synthetic media representative of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract fluids, including analyses in a fasted state and in the presence of a food matrix. We discussed how these factors, when not considered thoughtfully, could influence the results and generalizability of in vitro and in vivo testing. We conclude with a set of recommendations to guide future iENM toxicity studies and to develop/adopt more relevant in vitro model systems representative of in vivo animal and human iENM exposure scenarios.
Infrared evanescent wave sensing based on chalcogenide fiber is an emerging technology for qualitative and quantitative analysis of most organic compounds. Here, a tapered fiber sensor made from ...Gesub.10Assub.30Sesub.40Tesub.20 glass fiber was reported. The fundamental modes and intensity of evanescent waves in fibers with different diameters were simulated with COMSOL. The 30 mm length tapered fiber sensors with different waist diameters, 110, 63, and 31 μm, were fabricated for ethanol detection. The sensor with a waist diameter of 31 μm has the highest sensitivity of 0.73 a.u./% and a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.195 vol.% for ethanol. Finally, this sensor has been used to analyze alcohols, including Chinese baijiu (Chinese distilled spirits), red wine, Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine), Rio cocktail, and Tsingtao beer. It is shown that the ethanol concentration is consistent with the nominal alcoholicity. Moreover, other components such as COsub.2 and maltose can be detected in Tsingtao beer, demonstrating the feasibility of its application in detecting food additives.
Traditional supplements of selenium generally have a low degree of absorption and increased toxicity. Therefore, it is imperative to develop innovative systems as transporters of selenium compounds, ...which would raise the bioavailability of this element and allow its controlled release in the organism. Nanoscale selenium has attracted a great interest as a food additive especially in individuals with selenium deficiency, but also as a therapeutic agent without significant side effects in medicine. This review is focused on the incorporation of nanotechnological applications, in particular exploring the possibilities of a more effective way of administration, especially in selenium-deficient organisms. In addition, this review summarizes the survey of knowledge on selenium nanoparticles, their biological effects in the organism, advantages, absorption mechanisms, and nanotechnological applications for peroral administration.
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