Fish-Based Baby Food Concern-From Species Authentication to Exposure Risk Assessment

A comprehensive review on arsenic exposure and risk assessment in infants and young children diets: Health implications and mitigation interventions in a global perspective

The early stages of human development are critical for growth, and exposure to arsenic, particularly through the placenta and dietary sources, poses significant health risks. Despite extensive research, significant gaps remain in our comprehension of regional disparities in arsenic exposure and its cumulative impacts during these developmental stages. We hypothesize that infants in certain regions are at greater risk of arsenic exposure and its associated health complications. This review aims to fill these gaps by providing a comprehensive synthesis of epidemiological evidence related to arsenic exposure during early life, with an emphasis on the underlying mechanisms of arsenic toxicity that contribute to adverse health outcomes, including neurodevelopmental impairments, immune dysfunction, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Further, by systematically comparing dietary arsenic exposure in infants across Asia, the Americas, and Europe, our findings reveal that infants in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, exposed to levels significantly exceeding the health reference value range of 0.3-8 µg/kg/day, are particularly vulnerable to dietary inorganic arsenic. This comparative analysis not only highlights geographic disparities in exposure but also underscores the variability in regulatory frameworks. Finally, the review identifies early life as a critical window for dietary arsenic exposure and offers evidence-based recommendations for mitigating arsenic contamination in infant foods. These strategies include improved agricultural practices, dietary modifications, stricter regulatory limits on arsenic in infant products, and encouragement of low-arsenic dietary alternatives. Our work establishes the framework for future research and policy development aimed at reducing the burden of arsenic exposure from source to table and effectively addressing this significant public health challenge.

Toxic metal exposures from infant diets: Risk prevention strategies for caregivers and health care professionals

Concerns are growing regarding the presence of toxic elements such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) in the ingredients and prepared foods for infants and young children. There are few clear, evidence-based, guidelines on the maximum tolerable limits of toxicants in foods and little understanding of toxicant exposure or adverse health effects attributable to dietary exposure. Caregivers are faced with the burden of making decisions about which foods to select, how often to feed them to their children, and what foods to limit. This article reviews the current literature and existing recommendations on dietary exposure to toxic elements in children under 2 years of age, and their health effects in early childhood-focusing on growth, neurodevelopment, and immune function. The article also outlines best practices for healthcare providers to address the concerns of toxic element exposure through the diet in young children. Several foods consistently appear in the literature as potential sources of toxic element exposure. Contaminated drinking and cooking water, including water used to prepare infant formula, could also be a major exposure source. In the absence of stronger evidence on effects of dietary modification, exclusive breastfeeding until six months of age, followed by a diverse diet are some strategies to reduce dietary toxic element exposure while ensuring an adequate and balanced nutrient intake. Healthcare providers can support families by sharing information and encouraging blood Pb testing, the only element for which such testing is currently recommended.

COIBar-RFLP Molecular Strategy Discriminates Species and Unveils Commercial Frauds in Fishery Products

The DNA analysis is the best approach to authenticate species in seafood products and to unveil frauds based on species substitution. In this study, a molecular strategy coupling Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) DNA barcoding with the consolidated methodology of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), named COIBar-RFLP, was applied for searching pattern of restriction enzyme digestion, useful to discriminate seven different fish species (juveniles of Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardina pilchardus sold in Italy as “bianchetto” and Aphia minuta sold as “rossetto”; icefish Neosalanx tangkahkeii; European perch, Perca fluviatilis and the Nile Perch, Lates niloticus; striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus). A total of 30 fresh and frozen samples were processed for DNA barcoding, analyzed against a barcode library of COI sequences retrieved from GenBank, and validated for COIBar–RFLP analysis. Cases of misdescription were detected: 3 samples labeled as “bianchetto” were substituted by N. tangkahkeii (2 samples) and A. minuta (1 sample); 3 samples labeled as “persico reale” (P. fluviatilis) were substituted by L. niloticus and P. hypophthalmus. All species were simultaneously discriminated through the restriction pattern obtained with MspI enzyme. The results highlighted that the COIBar-RFLP could be an effective tool to authenticate fish in seafood products by responding to the emerging interest in molecular identification technologies.

Dietary exposure of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) from canned seafood by single particle ICP-MS: Balancing of risks and benefits for human health

The present study aims to give information regarding the quantification of ZnO-NPs in canned seafood, which may be intentionally or unintentionally added, and to provide a first esteem of dietary exposure. Samples were subjected to an alkaline digestion and assessment of ZnO-NPs was performed by the single particle ICP-MS technique. ZnO-NPs were found with concentrations range from 0.003 to 0.010 mg/kg and a size mean range from 61.3 and 78.6 nm. It was not observed a clear bioaccumulation trend according to trophic level and size of seafood species, although the mollusk species has slightly higher concentrations and larger size. The number of ZnO-NPs/g does not differ significantly among food samples, observing an average range of 5.51 × 10⁶ - 9.97 × 10⁶. Dissolved Zn determined with spICP-MS revealed comparable concentration to total Zn determined with ICP-MS in standard mode, confirming the efficiency of alkaline digestion on the extraction of the Zn. The same accumulation trend found for ZnO-NPs was observed more clearly for dissolved Zn. The ZnO-NPs intake derived from a meal does not differ significantly among seafood products and it ranges from 0.010 to 0.031 µg/kg b.w. in adult, and from 0.022 to 0.067 µg/kg b.w. in child. Conversely, the intake of dissolved Zn is significantly higher if it is assumed a meal of mollusks versus the fish products, with values of 109.3 µg/kg b.w. for adult and 240.1 µg/kg b.w. for child. Our findings revealed that ZnO-NPs have the potential to bioaccumulate in marine organisms, and seafood could be an important uptake route of ZnO-NPs. These results could be a first important step to understand the ZnO-NPs human dietary exposure, but the characterization and quantification of ZnO-NPs is necessary for a large number of food items.

Safety vs. Sustainability Concerns of Infant Food Users: French Results and European Perspectives

Context. In line with Sustainable Development Goals 3 “Good health and well-being” and 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production”, this paper is concerned with the fragile population of the less-than-3-years-old children. More specifically, it investigates how infant food safety is perceived at the household level and at the level of childhood and health professionals directly in contact with them. Objective. The paper aims to analyze consumer priorities and perceptions of hazards in infant foods qualitatively and quantitatively. Methodology. To do so, a survey was carried out in France on 1750 people representative of the general population. A hybrid method is proposed to analyze the results of the survey, mixing artificial intelligence and statistics. Main insights. Within the declared priorities when choosing infant food, health comes first, with a top ranking for the absence of harmful substances, followed closely by nutritional balance—far ahead of environment, ease of use and price. The results show that the rankings of the hazards that cause the most worry are globally homogeneous throughout the populations (families, professionals, etc.) and higher for chemical contaminants from agricultural practices and packaging. For health professionals, concerns are higher than in the general population for all categories of contaminants, and specific concerns such as risk related to environmental and unknown contaminants are much more prevalent. The perception of risk varies with the food considered. For infant formula in particular, users seem puzzled by somehow contradictory messages. Perspectives. The study is intended to be generalized to Europe.

Chemical Characterization and Quantification of Silver Nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) and Dissolved Ag in Seafood by Single Particle ICP-MS: Assessment of Dietary Exposure

This study provides a first insight on the chemical characterization and quantification of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and dissolved Ag in processed canned seafood products, where food-grade edible silver (E174) is not intentionally added nor is the nanoparticle contained in the food contact material. The aim was to evaluate the bioaccumulation potential of AgNPs and to contribute to the assessment of AgNPs and ionic Ag human dietary intake from processed seafood. It is known how seafood, and in particular pelagic fish, is a precious nutritional source of unsaturated fatty acids, protein, and different micronutrients. Nevertheless, it may cause possible health problems due to the intake of toxic compounds coming from environmental pollution. Among emerging contaminants, AgNPs are widely applied in several fields such as biomedicine, pharmaceutical, food industry, health care, drug-gene delivery, environmental study, water treatments, and many others, although its primary application is in accordance with its antimicrobial property. As a consequence, AgNPs are discharged into the aquatic environment, where the colloidal stability of these NPs is altered by chemical and physical environmental parameters. Its toxicity was demonstrated in in-vitro and in-vivo studies, although some findings are controversial because toxicity depends by several factors such as size, concentration, chemical composition, surface charge, Ag⁺ ions released, and hydrophobicity. The new emerging technique called single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) was applied, which allows the determination of nanoparticle number-based concentration and size distribution, as well as the dissolved element. Our findings highlighted comparable mean sizes across all species analysed, although AgNPs concentrations partly follow a trophic level-dependent trend. The low mean size detected could be of human health concern, since, smaller is the diameter higher is the toxicity. Dietary intake from a meal calculated for adults and children seems to be very low. Although seafood consumption represents only a small part of the human total diet, our findings represent a first important step to understand the AgNPs dietary exposure of the human population. Further studies are needed to characterize and quantify AgNPs in a large number of food items, both processing and not, and where AgNPs are added at the industrial level. They will provide a realistic exposure assessment, useful to understand if AgNPs toxicity levels observed in literature are close to those estimable through food consumption and implement data useful for risk assessors in developing AgNPs provisional tolerable daily intake.

Geographic Pattern of Sushi Product Misdescription in Italy-A Crosstalk between Citizen Science and DNA Barcoding

The food safety of sushi and the health of consumers are currently of high concern for food safety agencies across the world due to the globally widespread consumption of these products. The microbiological and toxicological risks derived from the consumption of raw fish and seafood have been highlighted worldwide, while the practice of species substitution in sushi products has attracted the interest of researchers more than food safety agencies. In this study, samples of sushi were processed for species authentication using the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene as a DNA barcode. The approach of Citizen Science was used to obtain the sushi samples by involving people from eighteen different Italian cities (Northern, Central and Southern Italy). The results indicate that a considerable rate of species substitution exists with a percentage of misdescription ranging from 31.8% in Northern Italy to 40% in Central Italy. The species most affected by replacement was Thunnus thynnus followed by the flying fish roe substituted by eggs of Mallotus villosus. These results indicate that a standardization of fish market names should be realized at the international level and that the indication of the scientific names of species should be mandatory for all products of the seafood supply chain.