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Food and Chemical Safety

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE

The Committee on Food and Chemical Safety helps to assure the safety of foods by providing a forum to advance scientific issues related to food allergens and chemicals of interest, such as additives, contaminants, and naturally occurring components.

ANNOUNCEMENT
ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety
2012 Summer Fellowship Program

The ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety will consider four subject areas for the ILSI North America 2012 summer fellowship program:  AGE’s & ALE’s, natural colors, furan and Tox21.  The selection of the candidate will depend on the candidate’s qualifications and the appropriate fit with the candidate’s desired project choice.  The fellow will be assigned a project that is agreed upon between the fellow and the Food and Chemical Safety Committee. The fellow will be provided with a stipend intended to cover expenses including transportation to/from Washington DC and housing.  Deadline for application submission is Wednesday April 4, 2012.

A. Evaluation of the human health implication of AGEs and ALEs
B. Natural Colors
C. Furan:  Estimate the risk from different points of view of heat formed compounds with an emphasis on furan formation during the heat processing of foods
D. Tox21

Application Instructions
Candidates should submit a statement about the fellow’s specific interests in one or more of the four topics; a resume, including service and volunteer activities; an official transcript; and two letters of recommendation.  Materials can be submitted to akretser@ilsi.org.  Interviews (via phone) of prospective candidates will be arranged. Deadline for submission is Wednesday April 4, 2012.

For more information about the 2012 summer fellowship program, please contact Ms. Alison Kretser at akretser@ilsi.org or at 202‐659‐0074, ext. 161 or click here.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Risk Assessment Approaches to Food Allergen Thresholds

Responding to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Advisory Committee’s support of risk assessment-based approaches to protect food allergic consumers, a subcommittee convened to examine the feasibility of applying current data and risk assessment tools to establish food allergen thresholds.
 
The committee purchased peanut allergen clinical challenge data and provided it to the Food Allergy Resource and Research Program (FARRP). FARRP analyzed the data and developed a dose-response curve for risk characterization of the sensitized population. This modeling approach could be used to establish population thresholds for peanut-allergic consumers and thereby provide a sound basis for allergen control measures in the food industry. The results were published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2010, in the article titled "Threshold Dose for Peanut: Risk Characterization Based upon Diagnostic Oral Challenge of a Series of 286 Peanut-allergic Individuals."
 
The committee is currently considering purchasing additional clinical data sets to broaden the types of allergen data sets beyond peanuts.

Threshold of Toxicological Concern

The Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is the basis of a practical approach for safety assessment of chemicals for which there are scant toxicological data, and has great potential for evaluating many of the chemicals occurring in our foods and in the environment. Due to ever-improving analytical capabilities, very low levels of unexpected chemicals can now be detected in foods. Although these may be toxicologically insignificant, such incidents often garner significant attention. Ongoing TTC-related projects are as follows.

Prioritizing Responses to Unintended Chemicals in Food

The committee has presented a TTC-based approach as a tool for prioritization of responses to unintended chemicals in foods. This article, titled “Refining the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) for Risk Prioritization of Trace Chemicals in Food,” was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2009.

Application of TTC in Food Safety

The committee has undertaken work in the development of a manuscript to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal on the application of TTC in food safety. The article will explore criteria to ensure appropriate application of the TTC where valid, and discourage its use in other cases.

Global Threshold Project

Building on the ILSI Research Foundation’s work that developed the Key Events Dose-Response Framework, the committee is examining the application of this framework in risk assessment and regulatory decision making (click here). Three case studies on different chemicals are in development to illustrate the potential utility of the Key Events Dose-Response Framework in risk assessment.

Artificial Food Colors and Behavior

The committee initiated a collaborative project to examine the relationships between artificial food colors and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The goal was to analyze the scientific literature and evaluate the strength of the evidence between artificial food colors and ADHD by conducting an evidence-based review process. Findings and conclusions are under final review by a peer-reviewed journal to help guide scientific thinking on this issue.

Heavy Metals

The committee is exploring the development of a heavy metal acceptance tool for raw material ingredients that are used in the production of food products. The heavy metals of interest are arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury.

Nanotechnology

The committee addressed the importance of this emerging issue by collaborating with the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) Expert Group on Nanotechnology. The FDA and National Characterization Laboratory served as liaisons for this effort. The goal was to increase understanding of the safety of nano-scale materials and its potential use in food-related applications.
 
The following three publications resulted from this initiative:
 
Letter to the Editor: Proposed Minimum Characterization Parameters for Studies on Food and Food-Related Nanomaterials,
A Method to Assess the Quality of Studies That Examine the Toxicity of Engineered Nanomaterials, and
An Appraisal of the Published Literature on the Safety and Toxicity of Food-related Nanomaterials.

Fellowship in Food Toxicology

Since 2009, the committee has sponsored a summer fellowship project related to an emerging issue in the field. Currently, the committee is discussing potential areas of focus for the 2012 summer food toxicology fellow.
 
The 2010 summer fellow explored epidemiological data on process formed compounds. A report titled "Acrylamide Exposure from Food and Human Cancer: A Report from the Epidemiologic Studies" was completed.
 
The 2009 fellow completed the report "Current Status of Applications on Nanotechnology in Foods.” Working closely with colleagues from ILSI Europe, the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute, and the ILSI Research Foundation, the fellow generated the Global List of Organizations and Efforts Related to Nanotechnology, Nanoscience, Nanomaterials, and Food and Agriculture Products, which is available online.

EVENTS

Workshop: Totality of Evidence

In collaboration with the ILSI North America Committees on Carbohydrates and Dietary Lipids, the Committee on Food and Chemical Safety organized a workshop titled “Decision-Making for Recommendations and Communication Based on Totality of Food-Related Research.” The workshop examined ways in which epidemiological, animal, and human intervention data can best be balanced to inform public health recommendations. A brief article summarizing the workshop appeared in the April 2009 issue of Food Insight. Extended abstracts and the manuscript summarizing the workshop were published in a supplement to Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.

PUBLICATIONS

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Abbott Nutrition
Cargill, Incorporated
The Coca-Cola Company
ConAgra Foods, Inc.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
General Mills Inc.
H.J. Heinz Company
Kellogg Co.
Kraft Foods, Inc.
Mars, Incorporated
Monsanto Company
Nestlé USA
PepsiCo, Inc.
Sara Lee
Senomyx, Inc.
Unilever

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS

Joseph Hotchkiss, PhD
Michigan State University
 
Richard Canady, PhD
ILSI Research Foundation

GOVERNMENT LIAISON

Sabine Francke-Carroll, PhD
US Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

STAFF CONTACT

Alison Kretser, MS, RD
Senior Science Program Manager
ILSI North America
1156 15th Street, NW 
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202.659.0074
Fax: 202.659.3859
 
 
Download the Committee on Food and Chemical Safety fact sheet here.
Food and Chemical Safety