Studie van de tafelzoetstoffen en de schatting van de totale inname van geselecteerde zoetstoffen door de volwassen Belgische bevolking

Naar aanleiding van een vraag van de Federale Overheidsdienst Volksgezondheid, Veiligheid van de Voedselketen en Leefmilieu, gepubliceerd in het Belgisch Staatsblad, werd het project &quot;Studie van de tafelzoetstoffen en de schatting van de totale inname van geselecteerde zoetstoffen door de Belgische bevolking&quot; uitgevoerd. Deze studie past binnen het Europese beleid waarin elke lidstaat de inname van additieven door zijn populatie dient op te volgen, zoals aangegeven in Artikel 27 van de EG-verordening 1333/2008.</p

Dietary intake of artificial sweeteners by the Belgian population.

&lt;p&gt;This study investigated whether the Belgian population older than 15 years is at risk of exceeding ADI levels for acesulfame-K, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame and sucralose through an assessment of usual dietary intake of artificial sweeteners and specific consumption of table-top sweeteners. A conservative Tier 2 approach, for which an extensive label survey was performed, showed that mean usual intake was significantly lower than the respective ADIs for all sweeteners. Even consumers with high intakes were not exposed to excessive levels, as relative intakes at the 95th percentile (p95) were 31% for acesulfame-K, 13% for aspartame, 30% for cyclamate, 17% for saccharin, and 16% for sucralose of the respective ADIs. Assessment of intake using a Tier 3 approach was preceded by optimisation and validation of an analytical method based on liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection. Concentrations of sweeteners in various food matrices and table-top sweeteners were determined and mean positive concentration values were included in the Tier 3 approach, leading to relative intakes at p95 of 17% for acesulfame-K, 5% for aspartame, 25% for cyclamate, 11% for saccharin, and 7% for sucralose of the corresponding ADIs. The contribution of table-top sweeteners to the total usual intake (&lt;1% of ADI) was negligible. A comparison of observed intake for the total population with intake for diabetics (acesulfame-K: 3.55 versus 3.75; aspartame: 6.77 versus 6.53; cyclamate: 1.97 versus 2.06; saccharine: 1.14 versus 0.97; sucralose: 3.08 versus 3.03, expressed as mg kg(-1) bodyweight day(-1) at p95) showed that the latter group was not exposed to higher levels. It was concluded that the Belgian population is not at risk of exceeding the established ADIs for sweeteners.&lt;/p&gt;</p

Radical intermediates in the degradation of hop acids

Radical formation in isohumulones was investigated under different types of stress, including temperature, transition metal ions, and hydrogen peroxide. Including dihydroisohumulones and tetrahydroisohumulones, as relevant analogues, allowed us to evaluate critical functionalities in radical formation. Using spin-trapping methodology with 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide and N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone as relevant traps, followed by simulation of corresponding spin adducts, identification of incipient radicals was attempted. The isohexenoyl side chain in isohumulones, but not present in dihydro- and tetrahydroisohumulones, was most sensitive to radical formation. Kinetic profiles further demonstrated that radical formation in this moiety was accelerated in the presence of ferrous ions. Reactivity of parent six-membered-ring humulones in radical formation was different, as scavenging of free radical species was more important. Lupulones, despite similarity with humulones, showed a different behavior with an obvious radical decay pathway during ageing, mainly ascribed to radical formation on the ring structure. Quantification of final spin adducts allowed us to determine absolute importance of the different degradation pathways. Eventually, mechanisms are presented explaining why isohumulones are more prone to radical processes in (aut)oxidation and thermal decay than close relatives such as dihydroisohumulones