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    INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME ON CHEMICAL SAFETY

    WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION





    SAFETY EVALUATION OF CERTAIN FOOD
    ADDITIVES AND CONTAMINANTS



    WHO FOOD ADDITIVES SERIES: 44





    Prepared by the Fifty-third meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO
    Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)





    World Health Organization, Geneva, 2000
    IPCS - International Programme on Chemical Safety




    This publication is a contribution to the International Programme on
    Chemical Safety.

    The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), established
    in 1980, is a joint venture of the United Nations Environment
    Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the
    World Health Organization (WHO). The overall objectives of the IPCS
    are to establish the scientific basis for assessing the risk to human
    health and the environment from exposure to chemicals, through
    international peer-review processes, as a prerequisite for the
    promotion of chemical safety, and to provide technical assistance in
    strengthening national capacities for the sound management of
    chemicals.

    The Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of
    Chemicals (IOMC) was established in 1995 by UNEP, ILO, the Food and
    Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, WHO, the United
    Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the Organisation for
    Economic Co-operation and Development (Partici-pating Organizations),
    following recommendations made by the 1992 United Nations Conference
    on Environment and Development to strengthen cooperation and increase
    coordination in the field of chemical safety. The purpose of the IOMC
    is to promote coordination of the policies and activities pursued by
    the Participating Organiza-tions, jointly or separately, to achieve
    the sound management of chemicals in relation to human health and the
    environment.

    Health & Environment International, Ltd, by agreement with WHO,
    performed independent literature searches on some of the substances
    on which data are summarized in this document in order to ensure that
    all relevant toxicological and related information was reviewed.



                        ISBN 92 4 166044 9

    CONTENTS

    Preface

    Glazing agent: Hydrogenated poly-1-decene

    Sweetening agent: Erythritol

    Thickener: Curdlan

    Miscellaneous substances

    gamma-Cyclodextrin

    Sodium iron ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)

    Sodium sulfate

    Safety evaluations of groups of related substances by the Procedure
    for the Safety Evaluation of Flavouring Agents

    Introduction

    Simple aliphatic and aromatic sulfides and thiols

    Aliphatic primary alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, acetals
    and esters containing additional oxygenated funtional groups

    Potential allergenicity of refined food products: 

    Peanut and soya bean oils

    Contaminants

    Lead

    Methylmercury

    Zearalenone

    Assessments of the intake of specific food additives

    Annatto extracts

    Canthaxanthin

    Erythrosine

    Iron oxides

    Annexes

    Annex 1   Reports and other documents resulting from previous meetings
              of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives

    Annex 2   Abbreviations used in the monographs

    Annex 3   Participants in the fifty-third meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO
              Expert Committee on Food Additives

    Annex 4   Acceptable daily intakes, other toxicological information,
              and information on specifications


    

    PREFACE

         The monographs contained in this volume were prepared at the
    fifty-third meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
    Additives (JECFA), which met at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, 1-10
    June 1999. These monographs summarize the safety data on selected food
    additives reviewed by the Committee.

         The fifty-third report of JECFA will be published by the World
    Health Organization in the WHO Technical Report Series. Reports and
    other documents resulting from previous meetings of JECFA are listed
    in Annex 1. The participants in the meeting are listed in Annex 3 of
    the present publication; a summary of the conclusions of the Committee
    is given in Annex 4. Some of the substances listed in Annex 4 were
    evaluated at the meeting only for specifications. 

         Specifications that were developed at the fifty-third meeting of
    JECFA have been issued separately by FAO as Food and Nutrition Paper
    No. 52, Add. 7. The toxicological monographs in the present
    publication should be read in conjunction with the specifications and
    the report.

         JECFA serves as a scientific advisory body to FAO, WHO, their
    Member States, and the Codex Alimentarius Commission, primarily
    through the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants and the
    Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods, regarding
    the safety of food additives, residues of veterinary drugs, naturally
    occurring toxicants, and contaminants in food. Commit-tees accomplish
    this task by preparing reports of their meetings and publishing
    specifications or residue monographs and toxicological monographs,
    such as those contained in this volume, on substances that they have
    considered. 

         The toxicological monographs contained in this volume are based
    upon working papers that were prepared by Temporary Advisers. A
    special acknowledgement is given at the beginning of each monograph to
    those who prepared these working papers.

         Many proprietary unpublished reports are referenced. These were
    voluntarily submitted to the Committee by various producers of the
    food additives under review and in many cases represent the only data
    on safety available on those substances. The Temporary Advisers based
    the working papers they developed on all of the data that were
    submitted, and all of these reports were available to the Committee
    when it made its evaluations. The monographs were edited by E.
    Heseltine, Lajarthe, 24290 St Léon-sur-Vézère, France.

         The preparation and editing of the monographs included in this
    volume were made possible through the technical and financial
    contributions of the Participating Organizations of the International
    Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), which supports the activities of
    JECFA.

         The designations employed and the presentation of the material in
    this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
    on the part of the organizations participating in the IPCS concerning
    the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or its
    authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
    boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of certain
    manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or
    recommended by those organizations in preference to others of a
    similar nature that are not mentioned.

         Any comments or new information on the biological or
    toxicological properties of the compounds evaluated in this
    publication should be addressed to: Joint WHO Secretary of the Joint
    FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, International Programme on
    Chemical Safety, World Health Organization, Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva
    27, Switzerland.





























    See Also:
       Toxicological Abbreviations