Furan is an organic compound formed during the heat treatment of food, which has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies.
Following health concerns about furan expressed by the United States Food and Drug Administration, EFSA set up a panel of experts in 2006 to gather information on the compound.
So far, 20 countries have submitted data on the furan content of foods to EFSA’s scientific panel. Their information is based on 5,050 samples across 21 food and beverage categories.
A major contributor to exposure for adults was brewed coffee with an average of 85% of total furan exposure.
Cereal-based products
Major contributors to furan exposure in toddlers and other children were fruit juice, milk-based products and cereal-based products.
For toddlers, jarred baby foods were major contributors.
The panel’s latest report, based on an analysis of results collected between 2004 and 2010, concluded: “…furan exposure estimates presented in this study confirm those published in the literature. Estimates are highest in toddlers and in adults with jarred baby foods and coffee being the major contributors, respectively.
“Without those two major contributors the other children and adolescents seemed to have lower furan exposure.”
The highest furan levels were found in coffee with mean values varying between 45 μg/kg for brewed coffee and 3,660 μg/kg for roasted coffee beans. The highest furan content was reported for roasted coffee beans at 6,407 μg/kg.
Aside from coffee, mean values ranged between 3.2 μg/kg for infant formula and 49 μg/kg for jarred baby food ‘vegetables only’.
Mean furan exposure across surveys was estimated to range between 0.03 and 0.59 μg/kg per day for adults and between 0.02 to 0.13 μg/kg per day for adolescents.
Exposure for other children ranged between 0.04 and 0.22 μg/kg per day, for toddlers 0.05 to 0.31 μg/kg and for infants between 0.09 and 0.22 μg/kg per day.
Limited information
EFSA recommends that future testing for furan should target different pre-heated products for which there are currently limited information.
Its report was entitled Update on furan levels in food from monitoring years 2004 – 2010 and exposure assessment.
The report recommended further testing of target food products where limited results are available.
Meanwhile, in its latest risk assessment on furan, from February 2010, the joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organisation Expert Committee on Food Additives concluded that “the margin of exposure for furan indicates a human health concern” and agreed to explore possible measures that could reduce consumer exposure.