Presents the conclusions of an expert committee commissioned to evaluate the safety for human consumption of selected food additives and contaminants and to establish acceptable daily intakes for these substances. The committee also establishes specifications for the identity and purity of food additives in order to make certain that the materials subjected to toxicological testing are adequately defined and correspond to the products in commerce. The report, which has two main parts, considers the acceptable daily intakes for 23 food additives and four contaminants. Sections in the first part address various methodological problems concerning the principles of safety assessment. Issues discussed include the possibility that the administration of test substances by corn oil gavage may have an independent effect on the incidence of certain tumours, and principles governing the formulation of specifications for enzyme preparations from genetically modified organisms, for heavy metals, and for substances derived from natural sources. The second and most extensive part provides succinct summaries of the toxicological data examined and factors considered when evaluating each substance and allocating an acceptable daily intake. A particularly detailed assessment of the toxicological hazards to humans of saccharin is included. The report also evaluates safety data on cadmium, 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol, 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol, and lead. For lead, the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for adults was withdrawn and the existing PTWI for infants and children was reconfirmed and extended to all age groups.

eng fre rus spa(in press).

WHODOC

WHO monograph

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