A procedure for the safety evaluation of flavouring substances

This review describes a procedure for the safety evaluation of flavouring s ubstances. Over 2500 flavouring substances are currently in use in food. Wh ile toxicity data do not exist on all flavouring substances currently in us e, within structurally related groups of flavouring substances many do have toxicity data and this information along with knowledge of structure-activ ity relationships and data on the daily intake provides a framework for saf ety evaluation. The safety evaluation procedure provides a scientifically b ased practical method of integrating data on intake, structure-activity rel ationships, metabolism and toxicity to evaluate flavouring substances in a timely manner. The procedure has been used recently by the Joint FAO/WHO Ex pert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) to evaluate a total of 263 flavour ing substances. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.