Impact of food processing and detoxification treatments on mycotoxin contamination.

Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites commonly occurring in food, which pose a health risk to the consumer. Maximum levels for major mycotoxins allowed in food have been established worldwide. Good agricultural practices, plant disease management, and adequate storage conditions limit mycotoxin levels in the food chain yet do not eliminate mycotoxins completely.

Assessing the safety of cosmetic chemicals: Consideration of a flux decision tree to predict dermally delivered systemic dose for comparison with oral TTC (Threshold of Toxicological Concern).

Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) aids assessment of human health risks from exposure to low levels of chemicals when toxicity data are limited. The objective here was to explore the potential refinement of exposure for applying the oral TTC to chemicals found in cosmetic products, for which there are limited dermal absorption data. A decision tree was constructed to estimate the dermally absorbed amount of chemical, based on typical skin exposure scenarios.

Towards microbial fermentation metabolites as markers for health benefits of prebiotics.

Available evidence on the bioactive, nutritional and putative detrimental properties of gut microbial metabolites has been evaluated to support a more integrated view of how prebiotics might affect host health throughout life. The present literature inventory targeted evidence for the physiological and nutritional effects of metabolites, for example, SCFA, the potential toxicity of other metabolites and attempted to determine normal concentration ranges. Furthermore, the biological relevance of more holistic approaches like faecal water toxicity assays and metabolomics and the limitations of faecal measurements were addressed.

Establishing the level of safety concern for chemicals in food without the need for toxicity testing.

There is demand for methodologies to establish levels of safety concern associated with dietary exposures to chemicals for which no toxicological data are available. In such situations, the application of in silico methods appears promising. To make safety statement requires quantitative predictions of toxicological reference points such as no observed adverse effect level and carcinogenic potency for DNA-reacting chemicals.

Markers for nutrition studies: review of criteria for the evaluation of markers.

Introduction: Markers are important tools to assess the nutrition status and effects of nutrition interventions. There is currently insufficient consensus in nutrition sciences on how to evaluate markers, despite the need for properly evaluating them.

Objectives: To identify the criteria for the evaluation of markers related to nutrition, health and disease and to propose generic criteria for evaluation.

Critical appraisal of the assessment of benefits and risks for foods, 'BRAFO Consensus Working Group'.

BRAFO, Benefit-Risk Analysis for Foods, was a European Commission project funded within Framework Six as a Specific Support Action and coordinated by ILSI Europe. BRAFO developed a tiered methodology for assessing the benefits and risks of foods and food components, utilising a quantitative, common scale for health assessment in higher tiers. This manuscript reports on the implications of the experience gained during the development of the project for the further improvement of benefit-risk assessment methodology.

Application of the BRAFO tiered approach for benefit-risk assessment to case studies on heat processing contaminants.

The aim of the European Funded Project BRAFO (benefit-risk analysis of foods) project was to develop a framework that allows quantitative comparison of human health risks and benefits of foods based on a common scale of measurement. This publication describes the application of the BRAFO methodology to three different case studies: the formation of acrylamide in potato and cereal based products, the formation of benzo(a)pyrene through smoking and grilling of meat and fish and the heat-treatment of milk. Reference, alternative scenario and target population represented the basic structure to test the tiers of the framework.

Application of the BRAFO-tiered approach for benefit-risk assessment to case studies on natural foods.

There is evidence that consumption of fish, especially oily fish, has substantial beneficial effects on health. In particular an inverse relationship of oily fish intake to coronary heart disease incidence has been established. These beneficial effects are ascribed to fish oil components including long chain ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

BRAFO tiered approach for Benefit-Risk Assessment of Foods.

BRAFO stands for Benefit-Risk Analysis for Foods. This European Commission funded project aims at developing a framework that allows quantitative comparison of human health risks and benefits of foods and food compounds based on a common scale of measurement. A methodology group brought together methodologies from several disciplines relevant to the evaluation of risks and benefits in food.

Results of the monitoring program of pesticide residues in organic food of plant origin in Lombardy (Italy).

Organic agriculture, with its restrictions on the use of synthetic chemical inputs, seems to offer a low-residue alternative to conventional methods. In Europe, the Council Regulation n. 2092/91/EEC regulates the production and trade of organic products and foodstuffs; national and regional legislation in Italy gives specific guidance on the surveillance of organic agriculture.

Ochratoxin a contents in wine: comparison of organically and conventionally produced products.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) content was determined in 44 organically and conventionally produced wines originating from different geographical regions. Wine samples were extracted using a series of C18 and mixed-bed solid-phase cartridges and analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The identity of the mycotoxin was confirmed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.