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Food additive intake assessment by Portuguese children up to three years of age: a case study

O aumento da comercialização de produtos alimentares processados reflete-se no aumento do consumo de aditivos alimentares, em especial nas crianças. Neste estudo pretendeu-se avaliar a ingestão de aditivos alimentares, por crianças dos 0 aos 3 anos, por comparação da Ingestão Diária Estimada com a Ingestão Diária Aceitável, estudar a associação da ingestão com as variáveis sexo, idade e percentil de Índice de Massa Corporal e identificar as categorias e/ou alimentos que mais contribuíram para a ingestão dos aditivos. Da população de crianças estudada, 18,8% apresentaram excesso de peso e 15,3% obesidade. Os aditivos alimentares dióxido de enxofre (E220), ácido fumárico (E297) e nitrito de sódio (E250) apresentaram Ingestão Diária Estimada superior à Ingestão Diária Aceitável, e as categorias “produtos de raízes e tubérculos processados”, especificamente os alimentos “puré de batata instantâneo” e “batatas fritas de pacote”; as “sanduíches e pizzas” e as “sobremesas de colher à base de água” foram as responsáveis pela ingestão desses aditivos, respetivamente. O presente caso de estudo mostra a importância da monitorização regular da ingestão de aditivos alimentares para, numa primeira abordagem, identificar os aditivos alimentares cuja a ingestão estimada é superior à ingestão aceitável, aditivos estes que serão, numa segunda abordagem, alvo de estudos mais refinados.The increase in the food processed products commercialization is reflected in the increased consumption of food additives, especially among children. This study aimed to evaluate the intake of food additives, by children aged 0 to 3 years, by comparing the Estimated Daily Intake with the Acceptable Daily Intake; to study the association of intake with the variables sex, age and percentile of Body Mass Index; and to identify the categories and/or foods that contributed most to the intake of the additives. Of the children studied, 18.8% were overweight and 15.3% were obese. The food additives sulfur dioxide (E220), fumaric acid (E297) and sodium nitrite (E250) had an Estimated Daily Intake higher than the Acceptable Daily Intake, and the categories "processed root and tuber products" specifically the foods "instant mashed potato” and "potato chips"; "sandwiches and pizzas” and “water-based spoon desserts” were responsible for the intake of these additives, respectively. The present case study shows the importance of regular monitoring of the intake of food additives, in a first approach, to identify food additives whose estimated intake is higher than the acceptable intake, additives that will be the target of more refined studies, in a second approach.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aditivos Alimentares

Artigo de opinião sobre aditivos alimentares. O Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge é a entidade em Portugal responsável pela avaliação da ingestão de aditivos alimentares, estando em curso a implementação de um sistema de monitorização em meio escolar.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determination of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in foodstuffs by high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection

Publicado em artigo no Livro de atas do congresso - XIV Encontro de Química dos Alimentos, pp. 107-111.Introduction: In recent decades, there has been a change in the dietary pattern of the population towards an increase in consumption of more industrialized foods. With this, food industry has faced many challenges on maintaining the quality and nutritional value of the products and at the same time increasing the shelf life. Benzoic Acid (BA) and Sorbic Acid (SA), and its salts, are food preservatives responsible for inhibiting microorganism growth and thus, protecting food products from spoilage. Although these preseratives are recognized by the EFSA and FDA as being safe, there are concerns arising from their wide occurrence in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, that can lead to an increase of the daily intake and possible risks of exceeding the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Therefore, occurrence data are essential to ensure consumer safety through exposure assessment studies. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the presence of benzoic and sorbic acids in 23 samples of food products commercially available in the market, using a validated HPLC method with UV detection based on European Standard 12856, and compare their levels with the respective allowable limits.Study supported by Project MONITADITIVOS (INSA), Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nitrate content in vegetables and fruits consumed throughout the year in Portugal

Os nitratos são comuns na natureza e amplamente encontrados em alimentos, água e solo, embora sejam os produtos hortícolas a sua principal fonte de ingestão. Os produtos hortícolas têm uma função nutricional essencial e desempenham um papel importante na proteção da saúde mas quando consumidos em excesso, os nitratos podem causar efeitos adversos. No sentido de poder avaliar a exposição alimentar da população a nitratos é importante determinar os teores de nitratos nos alimentos na forma como são consumidos e conhecer como os seus valores podem ser influenciados pela sazonalidade. Neste estudo, a quantificação do nitrato foi realizada através de um método HPLC-UV aplicado em 17 amostras diferentes de produtos hortícolas e frutos obtidas através do estudo piloto no âmbito do projeto Total Diet Study Exposure (TDS-Exposure). O teor de nitrato nas amostras variou entre 11 e 2369 mg/kg de produto. Na alface, produto hortícola que possui teores máximos legislados, a concentração de nitrato em todas as amostras foi menor que os limites máximos permitidos (2500 a 4500 mg/kg). Relativamente ao efeito da sazonalidade, as variações encontradas em algumas das amostras não foram na sua maioria significativas.Nitrates compounds are common in nature and widely found in foods, waters and soils, although vegetables are considered the main source of dietar y nitrate intake. Vegetables have an essential nutritional function and play an impor tant role in health protection, but when consumed in excess, nitrates could cause adverse ef fects. In order to assess the dietar y exposure of the population to nitrates, it is impor tant to determine the levels of nitrates in food in the way they are consumed and to know how their values can be influenced by seasonality. In this study, nitrate quantification was per formed using an HPLC-UV method applied to 17 dif ferent samples of vegetables and fruits obtained through the pilot study under the Total Diet Study Exposure project (TDS-Exposure). The nitrate content in the samples ranged between 11 and 2369 mg/kg of product. In the let tuce, vegetable that has maximum legislated contents, the concentration of nitrate in all the samples was smaller than the maximum permit ted levels (2500 a 4500 mg/kg). Regarding the ef fect of seasonality, the variations found in some of the samples were not mostly significant.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is there a health risk concerning the children´s consumption of cereal-based products? A cumulative mycotoxin risk assessment approach

Historically, the health risk of mycotoxins had been evaluated on the basis of single-chemical and single-exposure pathway scenarios. However, the co-contamination of foodstuffs with these compounds is being reported at an increasing rate and a multiple-exposure scenario for humans and vulnerable population groups as children is urgently needed. Cereals are among the first solid foods eaten by child and thus constitute an important food group of their diet. Few data are available relatively to early stages child´s exposure to mycotoxins through consumption of cereal-based foods. The present study aims to perform the cumulative risk assessment of mycotoxins present in a set of cereal-based foods including breakfast cereals (BC), processed cereal-based foods (PCBF) and biscuits (BT), consumed by children (1 to 3 years old, n=75) from Lisbon region, Portugal. Children food consumption and occurrence of 12 mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins and trichothecenes) in cereal-based foods were combined to estimate the mycotoxin daily intake, using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. Different strategies were used to treat the left censored data. For aflatoxins, as carcinogenic compounds, the margin of exposure (MoE) was calculated as a ratio of BMDL (benchmark dose lower confidence limit) and aflatoxin daily exposure. For the remaining mycotoxins, the output of exposure was compared to the dose reference values (TDI) in order to calculate the hazard quotients (HQ, ratio between exposure and a reference dose). The concentration addition (CA) concept was used for the cumulative risk assessment of multiple mycotoxins. The combined margin of exposure (MoET) and the hazard index (HI) were calculated for aflatoxins and the remaining mycotoxins, respectively. Main results revealed a significant health concern related to aflatoxins and especially aflatoxin M1 exposure according to the MoET and MoE values (below 10000), respectively. HQ and HI values for the remaining mycotoxins were below 1, revealing a low concern from a public health point of view. These are the first results on cumulative risk assessment of multiple mycotoxins present in cereal-based foods consumed by children. Considering the present results, more research studies are needed to provide the governmental regulatory bodies with data to develop an approach that contemplate the human exposure and, particularly, children, to multiple mycotoxins in food. The last issue is particularly important considering the potential synergistic effects that could occur between mycotoxins and its potential impact on human and, mainly, children health.Study supported by Project Mycomix (PTDC/DTP-FTO/0417/2012, Foundation for Science and Technology), Portugal

Estudo de dieta total piloto para avaliação da ingestão de nutrientes e da exposição a contaminantes: amostragem

Objetivo: Realização de um TDS piloto que visa implementar as metodologias harmonizadas a nível europeu no âmbito do projeto TDS_EXPOSURE. No presente trabalho descreve-se a metodologia para definição da amostragem do estudo, recolha e preparação das amostras e respetivos resultados.A realização deste estudo foi parcialmente financiada pelo 7º Programa Quadro da União Europeia para investigação, desenvolvimento tecnológico e demonstração (Grant agreement n°289108)

Avaliação do estado nutricional, dos hábitos alimentares e da probabilidade de exposição a micotoxinas na alimentação infantil: contributo do estudo-piloto efetuado na USF Cidadela, Cascais

Objetivo: O estudo-piloto realizado na USF Cidadela, Cascais tem como objetivo a avaliação do estado nutricional, dos hábitos alimentares e da probabilidade de exposição a contaminantes na alimentação infantil. Neste trabalho serão apresentados os resultados da 1ª fase do estudo, caracterização nutricional de uma população de crianças, com idades entre os 0 e 3 anos de idade, da USF Cidadela, Cascais.O Projeto MycoMix é financiado por Fundos Nacionais através da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PTDC/DTP-FTO/0417/2012)

Ciclamato em adoçantes de mesa: risco de ultrapassar a dose diária admissível

O presente trabalho teve por objetivos a determinação do teor de ciclamato em diferentes adoçantes de mesa e a consequente avaliação do risco de ultrapassar a DDA pelo consumo destes produtos