Selenium and cadmium in bioaccessible fraction of organic weaning food: Risk assessment and influence of dietary components

Influence of Dietary Fibre and Protein Fractions on the Trace Element Bioaccessibility of Turnip Tops (Brassica rapa) Growing under Mediterranean Conditions

The objective of this work was to study the influence of three dietary fibre fractions (pectin, gum arabic and cellulose) and three protein fractions (casein, lactalbumin and soy) on the trace element bioaccessibility (Fe, Mn, Ni, Se and Zn) of turnip tops (B. rapa subsp. Rapa) growing under Mediterranean conditions. Then, it aimed to promote the use of this vegetable not only for direct fresh consumption but also as a main ingredient in the development of food mixtures. The results showed that soluble fibre fractions, such as pectin and gum arabic, can enhance the bioaccessibility of trace elements, such as Fe, Mn, Se and Zn. This effect was not proved for cellulose (an insoluble fibre fraction), in which, at best, no bioaccessibility effect was observed. Regarding the protein fractions, with the exception of Se, caseins and lactalbumin had a neutral effect on improving the trace element bioaccessibility. This did not hold true for soy protein, in which a considerable improvement in the bioaccessibility of Fe, Mn, Se and Zn was determined.

Use of granules and free salts for Fe and Zn fortification of leafy vegetables: Improvements in trace element bioaccessibility and fulfillment of Dietary Reference Intakes

BACKGROUND

Leafy vegetables represent an excellent dietary source of trace elements such as Fe and Zn. Nevertheless, Fe and Zn bioaccessibility can lessen due to a high concentration of anti-nutritional compounds. The encapsulation of Fe and Zn salts as granules could be used to fortify these leafy vegetables.

METHOD

Three leafy vegetables, spinach, Swiss chard and Ethiopian mustard were fortified with iron sulfate and zinc sulfate as granules and free salts in order to test the improvements in the bioaccessibility and fulfillments of DRIs. Fe and Zn granules were prepared in a fluidized bed granulator. A probabilistic analysis was performed, using experimental data, to assess bioaccessible intake and fulfillments of DRIs in European populations.

RESULTS

Fe contents ranged between 4.8 mg/100 g of Ethiopian mustard to 157.4 mg/100 g of spinach. Fe and Zn bioaccessibility percentages were low for Swiss chard and spinach without fortification. Fortification with granules improved Fe bioaccessibility of these latter vegetables (196 and 223 mg/100 g). Zn contents in samples without fortification ranged between 2.3 mg/100 g for Ethiopian mustard and 7.4 mg/100 g for spinach. Zn fortification as granules improved Zn bioaccessibility for the three vegetables studied. Thus, Zn bioccessible concentrations ranged between 17.4 and 108 mg/100 g for the solubility assay and between 5.9 and 31.1 mg/100 g for the dialyzability assay. Besides, the probability analysis showed that fortification had a better performance in meeting DRIs for those populations with higher consumption levels of leafy vegetables.

CONCLUSIONS

The probability analysis demonstrated that fortification can be a suitable strategy to meet DRIs for both trace elements, which was especially remarkable for Fe. Fortification with granule was more effective in most the cases, although for Ethiopian mustard, free salt of Fe showed a better performance.

A Narrative Review of Toxic Heavy Metal Content of Infant and Toddler Foods and Evaluation of United States Policy

Excessive exposure to inorganic contaminants through ingestion of foods, such as those commonly referred to as heavy metals may cause cancer and other non-cancerous adverse effects. Infants and young children are especially vulnerable to these toxic effects due to their immature development and high ’food intake/ body weight' ratio. Concerns have been raised by multiple independent studies that heavy metals have been found to be present in many foods in the infant and child food sector. Most recently, reports from the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy suggest subpar testing practices, lenient or absent standards, and limited oversight of food manufacturers perpetuate the presence of these contaminants in infant and toddler foods. The aim of this narrative review is to evaluate the current state of policies in the United States designed to safe-guard against excessive heavy metal exposure and to discuss what is presently known about the presence of the so-called heavy metals; arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium found in infant and toddler foods. PubMed was used to search for studies published between 1999 and 2022 using a combination of search terms including: “heavy metal,” “contamination,” “infant,” “toddler,” and “complementary food”.

Human Health Risk Assessment of Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury Ingestion from Baby Foods

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As, Cd and Pb detected in baby foods containing fruit, grain, and root vegetables.

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Select product HIs exceeded 1 for As and Pb using conservative assumptions.

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Cancer risks exceeded 10⁻⁶ and were driven by As from grain products.

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Analysis revealed minimal risk under most scenarios using conservative assumptions.

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives reported on the presence of heavy metals in raw ingredients used in baby foods and in finished baby food products themselves. In light of these concerns, this study aimed to evaluate potential risks associated with the presence of heavy metals in baby food products. We analyzed 36 baby food samples representing four ingredient categories (fruit; leguminous vegetable; root vegetable; or grain) for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb). We assessed the potential lifetime cancer and non-cancer health risks posed to infants and toddlers following daily consumption of these chemicals in each food type, based on established daily food-specific ingestion rates. Daily doses were compared against selected reference values and oral slope factors to determine non-cancer hazard indices (HIs) and lifetime cancer risks. Hazard indices indicated a potential for non-cancer risk (e.g., HIs > 1.0) under only a few exposure scenarios, including for As and Pb under selected product type and age/concentration assumptions. Increases in lifetime cancer risks for all analytes across the ingredient categories evaluated ranged from 3.75 × 10⁻⁵ to 5.54 × 10⁻⁵; cancer risks were primarily driven by As from grain products. Though a limited set of exposure scenarios indicated a potential for health risk, the exposure assumptions in this assessment were conservative, and the heavy metal concentrations we found in baby foods are similar to those observed in similar whole foods. Based on these findings and the limited scenarios under which risks were identified, this study indicates that an infant’s typical intake of baby food is unlikely to pose health risks from heavy metals above accepted tolerable risk levels under most exposure scenarios.

Comparative Effects of Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems on Trace Elements Contents in Vegetable Brassicaceae: Risk Assessment

Genotypes selected from 3 plant species (Brassica rapa, Eruca vesicaria and Sinapis alba) belonging to the Brassicaceae family were chosen to compare the concentrations of 9 inorganic elements (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn) in these varieties, that were grown under both conventional and organic conditions during two agricultural seasons (2018/2019 and 2019/2020) on two different experimental farms (Farm I and Farm II). We found that, together with agriculture practices, the inorganic element concentrations in Brassicas depended on many other factors, including soil characteristics. However, there were no conclusive results indicating a lower heavy metal content or a higher nutritionally beneficial trace elements content in vegetables grown under organic agriculture. Finally, a probabilistic assessment (@Risk) derived from the consumption of 150–200 g of these vegetables showed that organic Brassicas fulfill in comparison with the conventional ones, similar Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) percentages for Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn. Regarding heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb), we only found slight differences (mainly in the case of Pb) in the Tolerable Intakes (TI) between both cropping systems.