Appropriateness to set a group health‐based guidance value for zearalenone and its modified forms

Abstract

The current tolerable daily intake (TDI) for zearalenone (ZEN) of 0.25 lg/kg body weight (bw) per day established by the EFSA Panel for Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) in 2011 is based on oestrogenicity in pigs. No new studies were identified to change this TDI. The modified forms of ZEN identified are phase I and phase II metabolites. Phase I metabolites are mainly formed through reduction. Phase II metabolites are formed by conjugation of ZEN and its phase I metabolites with glucose or sulfate, and in animals glucuronic acid. The few data on the occurrence of modified forms of ZEN indicated that cereal-based foods are the main source, containing amounts varying from a few up to 100% of ZEN. Most of the phase I metabolites have oestrogenic activity and it is assumed that their combined action will be additive. The CONTAM Panel found it appropriate to set a group TDI of 0.25 lg/kg bw per day expressed as ZEN equivalents for ZEN and its modified forms (phase I and phase II metabolites). To account for differences in in vivo oestrogenic potency, each phase I metabolite was assigned a potency factor relative to ZEN to be applied to exposure estimates of the respective ZEN metabolites. It was assumed that conjugates (phase II metabolites) of ZEN and its phase I metabolites, which per se have no oestrogenic activity, will be cleaved releasing ZEN and its phase I metabolites. These conjugates were assigned the same relative potency factors as their aglycones. The overall uncertainty associated with the present assessment is considered as high. It would rather overestimate than underestimate any risk of modified ZEN. Several aspects of the uncertainty could be reduced provided more data are made available on oestrogenicity of modified ZEN, in particular a-zearalenol, in pigs.

Fullerol C60(OH)24 Nanoparticles Affect Secondary Metabolite Profile of Important Foodborne Mycotoxigenic Fungi In Vitro

“…Today these processes contribute, at a significant rate, to food and feed contamination [16]. Accordingly, the European Food Safety Authority is trying to assess exposure and the effects on human and animal health by generating a more accurate database on the occurrence of modified mycotoxins in food and feed [20,21]. The mycotoxigenic fungal community structure has been changing due to climate change, which has put an even bigger emphasis on investigating mycotoxin occurrence.…”

Appropriateness to set a group health based guidance value for nivalenol and its modified forms

“…For the abbreviation of the carbohydrates and their modified forms used in phase II metabolism, the same nomenclature as in the Scientific Opinion on the risks for human and animal health related to the presence of modified forms of certain mycotoxins in food and feed (EFSA CONTAM Panel, 2014) in the Scientific Opinion on the appropriateness to set a group-based guidance value for zearalenone and its modified forms (EFSA CONTAM Panel, 2016), and in the Scientific Opinion on the appropriateness to set a group-based guidance value for T-2 and HT-2 toxins and their modified forms (EFSA CONTAM Panel, 2017) will be used. These abbreviations, which are common in carbohydrate chemistry, clearly designate the specific carbohydrate (e.g.…”

Mykotoxine in Lebensmitteln

“…Bisher bei Routineanalysen nicht erfasste Formen von ZEN (pflanzliche Glykoside und andere Konjugate), die im Organismus als östrogenaktive freie Form bioverfüg-bar werden, können aber zur Gesamtexposition beitragen. Dies berücksich-tigt die neue Evaluierung der EFSA, die den früheren TDI für ZEN bestätigt, aber nun als Gruppenwert für die Summe von ZEN und dessen modifizierte Formen setzt [46]. Ferner wird auf Unsicherheiten in der Expositionsschätzung verwiesen und auf den daraus resultierenden Forschungsbedarf zur Analyse in Lebensmitteln.…”