Lead exposure from honey: meta-analysis and risk assessment for the Arab region

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has adopted a maximum level for lead in honey (0.1 mg/kg). Despite representing a population of more than half a billion, exposure and risk assessments for lead specific to the Arab region are lacking. The aim of this work was to collect analytical data for lead in honey available in Arab countries and to assess the risk caused by exposure to lead from these samples for local consumers. A regional mean lead concentration in honey, obtained through a meta-analysis of 57 studies, was used in deterministic risk assessments for adults (nephrotoxicity and cardiovascular effects) and young children (developmental neurotoxicity). A regional pooled mean concentration of 0.12 mg/kg [95%CI: 0.07-0.21] (0.13 mg/kg, if non-detects are considered at their highest possible value) was obtained. Margins of exposure of 363 [71-17182] and 865 [168-40909] were calculated for adults, and of 48 [9-2273] for children, indicating potential concern for the latter population subset. These values were produced using GEMS consumption data, and considering the same intake for both children and adults, potentially overestimating the risk for children. Nevertheless, food competent authorities should consider measures to reduce lead concentration in honey available for sale in the region to prevent trade constraints and to better protect vulnerable populations.

"Vegan" and "plant-based" claims: risk implications for milk- and egg-allergic consumers in Canada

The market share of foods carrying labels suggesting absence of animal ingredients has significantly increased in recent years. The purpose of this study was to document the purchasing behaviour of egg- or milk-allergic consumers vis-à-vis food marketed as "vegan" and "plant-based", and to evaluate the associated allergenic risk. A survey was conducted among egg- and milk-allergic consumers and revealed that 86% (margin of error 5.4%; confidence level 95%) would buy "vegan" products, indicating this label may be perceived as a substitute for "free from milk and eggs". To assess the risk posed by these products, 87 prepackaged foods with "vegan" and/or "plant-based" claims purchased in Quebec were tested for milk proteins, and 64 for egg proteins. Overall, 5.7% and 0% occurrence of milk and egg proteins, respectively, were observed, suggesting that the analysed prepackaged foods carrying "vegan" and/or "plant-based" labels pose little risk to egg- or milk-allergic consumers. However, this is likely due to allergen management practices applied by the Canadian manufacturers of the products tested, and should not be attributed to the use of "vegan" or similar labels. Enhanced regulatory requirements for the use of these labels, and an education campaign on their meaning with respect to allergy-related risks, are necessary to better inform and protect egg- and milk-allergic consumers.

Risk assessment supporting the establishment of a maximum residue limit for ractopamine in beef liver, applicable in the Arab Republic of Egypt

In 2012, the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ractopamine in pig and cattle tissues. Egypt, a country that records a high consumption of beef liver, conducted a health risk assessment to estimate the risks associated with the adoption of Codex MRLs and the possible adoption of alternative values that may offer higher protection. Ractopamine was characterized based on previous assessments performed by international regulatory agencies, and an acceptable daily intake was set at 1 µg/kg bw for both chronic and acute ractopamine exposure. Beef liver consumption data for the Egyptian population were collected through a field survey (529 households, 1929 individuals). The standard body weight of 60 kg was used, as well as 70 kg, as a potentially more representative weight for the Egyptian population. Simulations showed that when the MRL for ractopamine in beef liver is set to 40 µg/kg (Codex MRL) or 20 µg/kg, the health-based guidance value of 1 µg/kg bw was not exceeded, as a result of chronic or acute exposure. An MRL of 20 µg/kg of ractopamine in beef liver was shown to provide optimum protection of Egyptian consumers, considering other potential sources of ractopamine intake and abnormally high consumption patterns, and was therefore recommended for adoption in Egypt. This study presents the inputs, model, and results of the probabilistic risk assessment that supported such recommendation. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Residues of veterinary drugs, such as ractopamine, accumulate in animal tissues and may pose a risk to consumers. Establishing maximum residue limits (MRLs) will help importers by giving them the necessary visibility for commercial trade. It will also benefit Egyptian consumers, large consumers of beef liver, who will be better protected with a lower MRL than the internationally recommended one.

Spent fowl as a source of unintentional egg proteins exposure in Canadian food products

The occurrence of egg proteins in products containing spent fowl manufactured under current practices was studied to assess the risk these food products may pose to egg-allergic consumers and to determine if Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL) was recommended. Spent fowl slaughtering and processing operations in 2 Canadian facilities were observed. Raw hen pieces (n = 134), coming from 2 facilities, and intermediate and processed products containing spent fowl (n = 57), coming from one facility, were analyzed using ELISA. All samples tested positive for egg proteins. Raw pieces were tested using a qualitative method (i.e., swabbing); estimated egg proteins concentrations suggest the presence of highly contaminated samples (>600 mg/kg in 2 hen wing samples). Swabbing was found to be efficient for rapid detection of eggs in raw hen pieces, but not for quantification. A comparison between swab and grind results showed that egg proteins concentration is underestimated by at least a factor 2 for whole carcasses and a factor 10 for breast, wings and drumsticks, when using the swab protocol. For intermediate and processed products, quantitative measurements indicate that egg protein levels were below 16 mg/kg. Additionally, 88 water samples from chiller tanks were analyzed and indicate that this step could be the cause of the global contamination observed with an increase in egg protein concentrations overtime during the production schedule. As egg contamination is not adequately controlled under the current good production practices, the use of PAL would be recommended for raw spent fowl products.

Validation of the RIDASCREEN® Peanut for Determination of Peanut Protein in Cookies, Milk Chocolate, Ice Cream, Trail Mix, Puffed Rice Cereals, and Granola Bar: AOAC Performance Tested MethodSM 112102

BACKGROUND

Regulations in many countries worldwide prescribe that peanut must be listed on food labels as a cause of food allergies. Re-evaluated VITAL values for peanut revealed ED01 value-at which 99% of all peanut-allergic individuals will not react-is 0.2 mg of peanut protein.

OBJECTIVE

Validation of a sandwich ELISA based on monoclonal antibodies to detect peanut proteins.

METHODS

Non-processed and processed samples are extracted by an easy procedure at 60 °C within 10 min. The measurement range is between 0.75 mg/kg peanut and 6 mg/kg peanut using a NIST reference material as calibrator.

RESULTS

The system shows no cross-reactivity against 91 different food commodities. LoD was found at 0.15 mg/kg for food matrices such as cookies, milk chocolate, ice cream, trail mix, puffed rice cereal, and granola bar. LoQ was verified at a level of 0.75 mg/kg. Recovery studies with incurred milk chocolate and -ice cream revealed consistent recoveries between 67% and 85%. Mean recoveries for incurred cookies depend on the baking temperature and time and ranged from 60% to 109%. Repeatability was between 5.2% and 12.3%, whereas relative intermediate precision was between 6.4% and 13.0%. The results for incurred cookies and milk chocolate in the independent laboratory showed mean recoveries between 99% and 104% with RSDs between 3.56% and 19.5% under repeatability conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the in-house validation study and from the independent lab confirmed that the method is accurate and in accordance with requirements laid down in SMPR® 2017.020.

HIGHLIGHTS

RIDASCREEN® Peanut quantifies proteins from peanut in a wide range of food categories.

Evaluation of the discriminatory potential of antibodies created from synthetic peptides derived from wheat, barley, rye and oat gluten

Celiac disease (CD) is triggered by ingestion of gluten-containing cereals such as wheat, barley, rye and in some cases oat. The only way for affected individuals to avoid symptoms of this condition is to adopt a gluten-free diet. Thus, gluten-free foodstuffs need to be monitored in order to ensure their innocuity. For this purpose, commercial immunoassays based on recognition of defined linear gluten sequences are currently used. These immunoassays are designed to detect or quantify total gluten regardless of the cereal, and often result in over or underestimation of the exact gluten content. In addition, Canadian regulations require a declaration of the source of gluten on the label of prepackaged foods, which cannot be done due to the limitations of existing methods. In this study, the development of new antibodies targeting discrimination of gluten sources was conducted using synthetic peptides as immunization strategy. Fourteen synthetic peptides selected from unique linear amino acid sequences of gluten were bioconjugated to Concholepas concholepas hemocyanin (CCH) as protein carrier, to elicit antibodies in rabbit. The resulting polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) successfully discriminated wheat, barley and oat prolamins during indirect ELISA assessments. pAbs raised against rye synthetic peptides cross-reacted evenly with wheat and rye prolamins but could still be useful to successfully discriminate gluten sources in combination with the other pAbs. Discrimination of gluten sources can be further refined and enhanced by raising monoclonal antibodies using a similar immunization strategy. A methodology capable of discriminating gluten sources, such as the one proposed in this study, could facilitate compliance with Canadian regulations on this matter. This type of discrimination could also complement current immunoassays by settling the issue of over and underestimation of gluten content, thus improving the safety of food intended to CD and wheat-allergic patients.

Summary of the AOAC-Sponsored Workshop Series Related to the Global Understanding of Food Fraud (GUFF): Mobilization of Resources for Food Authenticity Assurance and Food Fraud Prevention and Mitigation

BACKGROUND

Reports of incidents associated with the misrepresentation of food products as well as the adulteration of their composition leading, at times, to significant public health impacts are being recorded.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims at summarizing the outputs of three workshops dedicated to the theme "Global Understanding of Food Fraud" (GUFF), held in Quebec City in Canada (April 2017), Beijing in the People's Republic of China (October 2017) and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (October 2018).

METHOD

Based on the contributions made at these workshops, the paper reviews current knowledge related to food fraud shared by experts and stakeholders representing the food industry sector, food regulators both domestically and internationally and scientists from Academia. It also discusses approaches available to the industry across the food supply chain to predict, prevent, and possibly mitigate food fraud, inclusive of targeted and non-targeted methods of analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The paper offers a discussion on areas warranting the mobilization of efforts and resources of the food stakeholder community to reach consistent and accessible guidance on food fraud prevention, validated analytical methods along with an increased emphasis on prevention in food regulatory measures targeting food fraud. Further development is needed to reach consistent and accessible guidance on food fraud prevention, validated analytical methods, along with an emphasis on food fraud prevention.

HIGHLIGHTS

Food fraud is receiving increased attention from consumers, regulators, and industry. International food fraud experts were invited to three workshops. Contributions and conclusions from the workshops are reported and discussed.

Peanut and hazelnut occurrence as allergens in foodstuffs with precautionary allergen labeling in Canada

Precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) is widely used by food industries. Occurrence studies revealed that few analyzed products contained the allergen(s) present in the statement, but little is known in Canada. To improve manufacturing practices and better manage allergen cross-contamination, occurrence data is needed to determine the exposure of allergic individuals eating those products. Samples were analyzed for peanuts (n = 871) and hazelnuts (n = 863) using ELISA methods. Within samples analyzed for peanuts, 72% had a PAL (n = 628), 1% had peanuts as a minor ingredient (n = 9) and 27% were claimed “peanut-free” (n = 234). Most hazelnut samples had a PAL for tree nuts/hazelnuts (94%; n = 807) with 6% claimed “nut-free” (n = 56). Peanuts and hazelnuts were found in 4% (0.6–28.1 ppm) and 9% (0.4–2167 ppm) of all samples, respectively. Chocolates were mostly impacted; they should be treated apart from other foods and used in risk assessments scenarios to improve manufacturing practices, reducing unnecessary PAL use.

Probabilistic risk assessment for milk in dark chocolate, cookies and other baked goods with PAL sold in Canada

The risk of having an allergic reaction in milk-allergic individuals consuming products with precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) for milk has been rarely studied in products such as dark chocolate, cookies, and other baked goods. A probabilistic risk assessment model was developed to estimate potential risks. Milk occurrence and contamination levels were reported in a previous article from our group. Dose-response curves for milk were constructed using values (n = 1078) from published double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges. Canadian consumption data was extracted from a national survey, and a homemade survey involving food-allergic Canadians. Milk eliciting doses (ED) were 0.23 (ED₀₁), 1.34 (ED₀₅), 3.42 (ED₁₀), and 16.3 (ED₂₅) mg of milk protein (Log-Normal distribution). Average exposures, per eating occasion, were 24 mg (dark chocolate), 3.9 mg (baked goods), and 0.20 mg (cookies) of milk proteins. The estimated risk of having a milk-induced allergic reaction by consuming foods with PAL for milk was higher for dark chocolate (16%; 15,881/100,000) than baked goods (3.8%; 3802/100,000) or cookies (0.6%; 646/100,000) in milk-allergic Canadians. Dark chocolate, cookies, and baked goods with PAL for milk, should be avoided by milk-allergic Canadians (consuming or not products with PAL) to prevent allergic reactions.