EFSA Publishes Updated Information on Flavoring Materials

In a paper published in the EFSA Journal, titled “Scientific Opinion on Flavouring Group Evaluation 96 (FGE.96): Consideration of 88 flavouring substances considered by EFSA for which EU production volumes/anticipated production volumes have been submitted on request by DG SANCO. Addendum to FGE. 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85 and 87,” the Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) discussed its evaluations of flavoring materials that have been assessed since 200 by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) to decide whether further evaluation is necessary. The evaluation looked at 88 JECFA-evaluated substances from different flavoring group evaluations that all had no European production volumes available at the time they were initially considered, and, as a result, no MSDI could be calculated for EU standards that could be used for EFSA evaluation.

However, with suitable production volumes now available, MSDI values for the EU have been calculated, and based on these calculations, the substances have been reconsidered by the stepwise approach, which integrates information on structure-activity relationships, intake from current uses, toxicological threshold of concern, and available data on metabolism and toxicity. For these flavoring group evaluations, no genotoxicity concerns were raised, and the panel concluded that 87 of the substances in question do not impose dietary intake safety concerns. For the substance 2-acetyl-1-ethylpyrrole (FL# 14.045), the panel could not identify an appropriate NOAEL, meaning additional data toxicity data will be required.

The panel also noted that amino acids FL# 16.056, 17.001, 17.003, 17.015 and 17.026 may react with other food constituents upon heating, and the resulting reaction mixtures formed, commonly referred to as “process flavors,” have not been evaluated by the panel. Therefore, the present evaluation is based on the idea that these flavoring substances will be in an unchanged form when they are consumed, thus in food that is not intended to be heated.

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