Safety Assessment for Food Additives

In the early stages of human life, humans could enjoy the wonders offered by nature and used hunting and gathering fruits for food. After some years, they realized that they should plant their own food, otherwise nature would not meet the demand of the growing population. They also discovered fire, which is still one of the most studied processes regarding food modification, as it can preserve and modify its flavors and textures. And so humanity progressed…

Today, the human population reaches 7 billion inhabitants on Earth, and to feed them, it was (and still is) necessary to develop new technologies both in agricultural production and in food production so that it can remain free from microbiological hazards, in addition to its sensory and nutritional contribution.

Some technologies developed so far were created in an attempt to meet the agreement established by the World Health Organization regarding the concept of Food and Nutritional Security: ‘all people should have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to maintain an active and healthy life’. However, the struggle to achieve this aspiration depends on many efforts, mainly regarding the education of the population and also the care taken with technological advances.

To this end, governmental bodies and scholars have joined forces to discuss possible solutions so that technology is used in a way that does not harm the well-being of the population. Specifically regarding food, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the assistance of the World Trade Organization (WTO), created in 1963 what they called the Codex Alimentarius*. To form this type of “code,” experts in specific subjects discuss proposals to carry out risk analyses** to avoid potential harm caused by food. These experts are divided into groups such as JECFA, JMPR, and JEMRA, among other experts, if there is a specific need for other evaluations. All groups first conduct a survey of relevant scientific studies and transform them into monographs that can serve as guidelines for different governmental and non-governmental surveillance bodies.

In addition to the Codex Alimentarius, some countries or regions have their own agencies or groups that establish their regulations. For example, in the United States there is the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), in the European Union, the ESFA (European Food Safety Authority), and in Brazil, ANVISA (National Health Surveillance Agency). ANVISA often uses references from the Codex and other international agencies.

For food additives, such as substances that provide umami taste produced industrially (monosodium glutamate and other salts, disodium inosinate and guanylate), the agencies begin the risk analysis process with toxicity assessments of chemical substances (chronic, subchronic, acute toxicity, skin sensitivity, mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, teratogenicity, among others). From these studies, they can establish an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)***, which has different categories according to the additive being evaluated.

Risk analysis for industrially produced umami substances has shown that they are safe for human consumption, a point that will be discussed in future scientific studies published on this website!