Opinion of the Scientific Panel on food additives, flavourings, processing aids and materials in contact with food (AFC) related to Ferrous bisglycinate as a source of iron for use in the manufacturing of foods ad in food supplements

Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for iron

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for iron. Systematic reviews were conducted to identify evidence regarding high iron intakes and risk of chronic diseases, adverse gastrointestinal effects and adverse effects of iron supplementation in infancy, young childhood and pregnancy. It is established that systemic iron overload leads to organ toxicity, but no UL could be established. The only indicator for which a dose-response could be established was black stools, which reflect the presence of large amounts of unabsorbed iron in the gut. This is a conservative endpoint among the chain of events that may lead to systemic iron overload but is not adverse per se. Based on interventions in which black stools did not occur at supplemental iron intakes of 20-25 mg/day (added to a background intake of 15 mg/day), a safe level of intake for iron of 40 mg/day for adults (including pregnant and lactating women) was established. Using allometric scaling (body weight0.75), this value was scaled down to children and adolescents and safe levels of intakes between 10 mg/day (1-3 years) and 35 mg/day (15-17 years) were derived. For infants 7-11 months of age who have a higher iron requirement than young children, allometric scaling was applied to the supplemental iron intakes (i.e. 25 mg/day) and resulted in a safe level of supplemental iron intake of 5 mg/day. This value was extended to 4-6 month-old infants and refers to iron intakes from fortified foods and food supplements, not from infant and follow-on formulae. The application of the safe level of intake is more limited than a UL because the intake level at which the risk of adverse effects starts to increase is not defined.

Silver Nanoparticles Coupled with Graphene Nanoplatelets Modified Screen-Printed Carbon Electrodes for Rhodamine B Detection in Food Products

A rapid, simple, and sensitive voltammetric sensor has been fabricated to determine Rhodamine B (RhB), a textile coloring agent. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by the chemical reduction method of silver nitrate and sodium citrate. Graphene nanoplatelets (GPLs) and AgNPs were drop-casted on the surface of a working electrode of a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE), forming the SPCE-GPLs/AgNPs samples. Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray and cyclic voltammetry confirmed the altered surface of the SPCE. The square wave voltammetry was used for the electrochemical determination of RhB. The SPCE-GPLs/AgNPs demonstrated electrochemical responses to detect RhB with a linear range of 2-100 μM, and the limit of detection was 1.94 μM. The SPCE-GPLs/AgNPs demonstrated a selective detection of RhB in the presence of common interfering compounds present in the food samples, including sucrose and monosodium glutamate. Furthermore, the sensor presented good reproducibility as well as repeatability in the detection of RhB. When the sensor was used to determine RhB in an actual food sample, similar results were shown as suggested by UV-vis spectroscopy analysis. Hence, the fabricated sensor can be applied for the detection of RhB in food samples.