EFSA revises assessment of consumer exposure to steviol glycosides

Published:

26 January 2011

2 minutes read

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reviewed its previous assessment of consumer exposure Concentration or amount of a particular substance that is taken in by an individual, population or ecosystem in a specific frequency over a certain amount of time. to the sweeteners steviol glycosides[1] based on the revised levels of use proposed by the applicants. More commonly referred to as stevia, these sweeteners are proposed for use in sugar-free or reduced energy foods such as certain flavoured drinks and confectionary. Although the revised exposure estimates are slightly lower than those in the opinion adopted by EFSA’s ANS Panel in April 2010, adults and children who are high consumers of foods containing these sweeteners, could still exceed the Acceptable Daily Intake The amount of a substance (e.g. nutrient or chemical) that is ingested by a person or animal via the diet. ( ADI An estimate of the amount of a substance in food or drinking water that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without presenting an appreciable risk to health. It is usually expressed as milligrams of the substance per kilogram of body weight per day and applies to chemical substances such as food additives, pesticide residues and veterinary drugs.) established by the Panel if the sweeteners are used at maximum levels[2].

In April 2010, EFSA’s evaluation of the safety and consumer exposure indicated that some adults and children could exceed the ADI An estimate of the amount of a substance in food or drinking water that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without presenting an appreciable risk to health. It is usually expressed as milligrams of the substance per kilogram of body weight per day and applies to chemical substances such as food additives, pesticide residues and veterinary drugs. of 4 mg per kg body weight per day (mg/kg bw/day) if the sweeteners were used at the maximum use levels proposed by the applicants. The European Commission therefore asked industry to revise the uses proposed for the substances. In order to ensure that the use of such sweeteners would be safe for consumers, the European Commission subsequently requested that EFSA carry out a new exposure assessment One of the key steps in risk assessment, this relates to a thorough evaluation of who, or what, has been exposed to a hazard and a quantification of the amounts involved. on the basis of the revised uses proposed.

Taking into account the revised proposed uses and use levels submitted by industry, EFSA calculated the exposure to steviol glycosides from various food categories including non-alcoholic flavoured drinks which, given food consumption habits, would be among the main sources of exposure to steviol glycosides for both adults and children. In estimating the exposure, EFSA used data from several food consumption databases, including EFSA’s Comprehensive Food Consumption Database.

For high consumers, revised exposure estimates to steviol glycosides remain above the established ADI An estimate of the amount of a substance in food or drinking water that can be consumed daily over a lifetime without presenting an appreciable risk to health. It is usually expressed as milligrams of the substance per kilogram of body weight per day and applies to chemical substances such as food additives, pesticide residues and veterinary drugs. of 4 mg per kg body weight. For European children (aged 1-14) exposure ranges from 1.7 to 16.3 mg/kg bw/day; and for adults, revised exposure estimates range from 5.6 to 6.8 mg/kg bw/day.