EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids examined the safety of five furanone derivatives and five carboxamides.
The furanone derivatives had already been assessed by JECFA (the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) and EFSA concluded that it had enough information on the compounds’ safety and use to conclude “No safety concern at the estimated level of intake”.
For the carboxamide group, EFSA concluded that data on three of the five substances “do not give rise to safety concerns at their levels of dietary intake”. However, for the remaining two substances (FL-no: 16.118 and 16.124) the food safety body said that there was insufficient NOAEL (no observable adverse effect level) information available. It therefore requested further toxicity data before it is able to give an opinion on the substances’ safety.
EFSA’s opinion on the furanone derivatives is available in the EFSA journal here.
Its opinion on carboxamides from chemical group 30 can be accessed by clicking here.
The latest safety assessments come just weeks after the European Commission approved plans to harmonise the use of food flavours in the European food industry with a list of permitted flavouring substances. There are currently about 2,100 authorised flavouring substances on the list, and a further 400 are due to remain on the market until EFSA concludes its evaluation. The full list can be found here.