Process flavors safety assessment

An assessment of the potential presence of PHAs in process flavors, and the implications for the safety assessment of these flavors, was sponsored by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States (FEMA). The assessment was conducted in three stages (1) identification and quantification of PHAs in process flavors (2) identification of the food categories which could potentially contain process flavors and calculation of their respective daily per capita intakes and (3) determination of the daily per capita intake of PHAs through consumption of foods identified as sources of naturally-occurring PHAs compared to foods containing process flavors. 

The result of this program led to the conclusion that "process fiavors" were not a safety concern at their current use levels and manufacturing conditions. Further, there has been no scientific data generated by, or known by the FDA, that challenges the industry s assertion that process flavors are safe. However, certain substances may be present in process fiavors that may be considered toxic. The substances in question have been die subject of significant research and risk assessments with the resulting conclusion of no healfii concerns. One of these studies is reported in this text (8). 

EFSA is the newly established scientific body of the EU that provides objective scientific information and evaluations on all food safety issues, including food additives. EFSA is an independent European agency located in Parma, Italy, which provides risk assessments to the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council and operates various scientific panels including the panel on food additives, flavorings, processing aids, and materials in contact with food. 

Although the Procedure for the Safety Evaluation of Flavoring Agents does not require toxicological data in every instance, but rather relies primarily on structure-activity relationships to assess safety, this study confirmed that on the basis of a more traditional toxicological process of evaluating chemical safety, the procedure showed that the evaluated substances did not present a concern for safety at current estimates of intake. ... 

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 1970- Philadelphia Taylor Francis (1040-8398). Online informaworld (1549-7852). Includes articles on many aspects of food science including food safety, flavor chemistry, food colors, pesticides, risk assessment, effects of processing on nutrition, food labeling, and fnnctional/bioactive foods. 

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