ARE CURRENT REGULATORY LIMITS FOR FOOD CONTAMINANTS SUITABLE FOR INFANTS AND CHILDREN

The ever-increasing reports of the presence of potentially toxic chemi cals in foods intended for infants and young children cause alarm amon gst the public and pose problems for the regulatory bodies who set lim its for chemical contaminants in foods. in this Viewpoint article, we wish to bring attention to the fact that infants and children represen t special subgroups of the population for which specific safety consid erations should be considered. We propose the application of a scienti fic, risk-based strategy for the establishment of regulatory standards for food products aimed at this age group. Such an approach will allo w the limited resources available to be focused proactively on reducin g health risks, rather than reading to perceived emotional issues.