THE FEMA GRAS ASSESSMENT OF ALICYCLIC SUBSTANCES USED AS FLAVOR INGREDIENTS

For over 35 years, an independent panel of expert scientists has serve d as the primary body for evaluating the safety of flavour ingredients . This group, the Expert Panel of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers ' Association (FEMA), has achieved international recognition from the flavour industry, government regulatory bodies including the Food and Drug Administration, and the toxicology community for its unique contr ibutions. To date, the Expert Panel has evaluated the safety of more t han 1700 flavour ingredients and determined the vast majority to be '' generally recognized as safe'' (GRAS). Elements that are fundamental t o the safety evaluation of flavour ingredients include exposure, struc tural analogy, metabolism, pharmacokinetics and toxicology. Flavour in gredients are evaluated individually taking into account the available scientific information on the group of structurally related substance s. The elements of the GRAS assessment program as they have been appli ed by the Expert Panel to the group of 119 alicyclic substances used a s flavour ingredients, and the relevant scientific data which provide the basis for the GRAS status of these substances, are described herei n. This publication is the first of a series on GRAS flavour ingredien ts. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd