Risk analysis

Food is made up of what

nutrients and non-nutrients

What are non-nutrients

added non-nutrients, either intentional or contaminants and natural i.e. phytochemicals

Historically what caused the need for food additive legislation

Industrialization happened in the 20th century where the population increased in cities and so need for food did too and so there was a greater requirement for better stored and processed foods, increased demand for removal of seasonal and regional availability restrictions and large consumer choice at low cost

what is a food additive

a chemical added to a food or beverage to make it more appealing to a consumer

Why are food additives added

for palatability- flavorings, sweeteners

for appearance- colors

for shelf-life- preservatives

What do additives have that appears on the list of ingredients

e numbers e.g. aspartame (E951)

When was the issue of food additives first discussed

it was first discussed in 1953 by the world health assembly where there were concerns raised about the use of various chemical substances in the food industry in the last few decades

What was established in 1955

Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives

What did the JECFA do

They focus on contaminants too. They did evaluations based on sound scientific evidence, development of general principles and guidance on the conduct of toxicological studies. This led to development of the acceptable daily intake.

What are the risks associated with food

Probability of an adverse health outcome- immediate outcomes would be food poisoning, allergy, headache and longer-term outcomes would be organ damage, birth defects, cancer and chronic illness

what is risk analysis

it is used to answer what is the nature and magnitude of the health risk associated with a particular chemical and how should the risk be managed and communicated to those affected

what is a hazard

inherent property of an agent or situation having the potential to cause adverse effects when an organism, system or subpopulation is exposed to that agent

What is a risk

the probability of an adverse effect in an organism system or subpopulation caused under specified circumstances by exposure to an agent

what is the risk assessment process

hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation

what does hazard identification look at

it looks at what chemical component is the hazard, is there an adverse effect and what are the adverse effects of that hazard

What is the toxicokinetics

what the body does to chemical ie absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion

What is toxicodynamics?

what the chemical does to the body does it have an effect on morphology, physiology, growth, development, reproduction or life span of an organism

what is hazard characterisation

it looks at the qualitative/quantitative development of an adverse effect associated with the hazard i.e. it looks at the relationship between exposure levels and frequency of illness

how is hazard characterisation completed in studies

with in silico modelling, in vitro models, animal experiments and then human data

what is the difference between adverse and non adverse effects

Adverse effects impair normal function e.g. cancer while non adverse effects are not considered harmful e.g. temporary change in enzyme

what does exposure assessment mean

the qualitative and or quantitative evaluation of the likely intake of biological, chemical and physical agents via food as well as exposures from other sources if relevant

how is exposure measured

raw food amount x presence probability x chemical concentration

what are indirect methods of food consumption data

economically-derived indicators, household budget and food balance sheets

What are the strengths and limitations of indirect methods of food consumption data

relatively inexpensive, no individual data and limited value estimating chemical exposure

what are direct methods of food consumption data

FFQs, 24 hr recall, diet history and food diary

What are the strengths and limitations of direct methods of food consumption data

expensive, can determine proportion of population who are consumers

what are MPLs

maximum permitted levels

what is the first estimate of exposure assessment based on

screening techniques

what are the approaches after the first estimate that lead to best estimate

model diets, deterministic assessment, semi-probabilistic assessment and probabilistic assessment

What is the approach used in regulation

they assume the chemical is present in a vast range of foods and at the maximum permitted levels

what is tier 1 of exposure assessment model called

crude deterministic model

What is the calculation for tier 1 of exposure assessment model

(weight of food/drink x MPL concentration)/ body weight

how is tier 2 more refined

instead of having all foods with the chemical it is only for foods/drinks which actually contain the chemical as identified on food labels or during chemical analysis

What is the calculation for tier 3 of exposure assessment model

(weight of food/drink x actual concentration)/ body weight

what is a chronic exposure timeframe

long term intake, usually lifetime

what is an acute exposure timeframe

short term intake, usually from 1 single eating occasion or 1 day and time scale dependent on specific situation

what are the uncertainties of food consumption data

measurement error, under-reporting, extrapolation related to other population groups and body weight data may be inaccurate self-reported

what are the uncertainties of chemical concentrations

measurement and sampling uncertainty, extrapolation between countries, effects of storage, processing, preparation conditions

who would be critical groups for risk assessment

young children, pregnant women, dietary habits, people who consume a particular diet and above average consumer

what is risk characterisation

defined as the qualitative and/or quantitative estimation, including attendant uncertainties, of the probability of occurrence and severity of known or potential adverse health effects in a population based on hazard based on hazard identification, hazard characterisation and exposure assessment

what is the lowest no-observed-adverse-effect-level

it is safety levels to measure peoples exposure against and make sure they are not exposed to levels that will cause adverse health effects

what uncertainty factors

default factors used to account for species differences and human variability

How do you calculate the adequate daily intake

noael/uf

what is the adequate daily intake

the amount of a substance that people can consume daily during their whole life without any appreciable risk to health

what is the uf typically

100

what is ARfD

acute reference dose

define ARfD

an estimate of the amount of a substance in food and/or drinking water, normally expressed on a body weight basis, that can be ingested in a period of 24 hours or less without appreciable health risk to the consumer on the basis of all known facts at the time of the evaluation

what is TDI

tolerable daily intake for contaminants

what is TWI

tolerable weekly intake for contaminants with long half-lives in the body

What are the health based guidance values for nutrients

tolerable upper level and upper level

what is the goal of risk management

manage risks associated with food to protect human health

What is the outcome of risk management

development of standards, guidelines and other recommendations for food safety

what is the FAO

food and agriculture organization of the united nations

what is the JMPR

joint meeting on pesticide residues

What it the JEMRA

joint fao/who meeting on microbiological risk assessment

what is an example of risk analysis

dioxins in Irish pork