Food and Chemical Safety

The Committee on Food and Chemical Safety promotes a science-based determination of the chemical safety of foods to support the advancement of public health.

How this committee operates:

The Food and Chemical Safety Committee focuses on many different issues related to the safety of the food supply. To deliver output and impact, the committee works in subgroups focused on specific areas of food and chemical safety. Explore the work of the Committees below.

Areas of Work

Food Allergens Next Generation Risk Assessment Mycotoxins Heavy Metals

Food Allergens

Food allergies affect a significant number of children and adults in the US and globally. Potential exposure to food allergens is currently communicated using ambiguous, unhelpful statements such as “may contain” or “packaged in a facility that also processes”. The committee supported the first study of its kind to model peanut allergen dose-responses based on US clinical tests and estimate thresholds of peanut protein that trigger an adverse reaction. The use of allergen response thresholds has the potential to significantly improve food labeling with measurable benefits to allergic individuals (read the project description here and the publication here).

The Committee was a co-sponsor of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report Finding a Path to Safety in Food Allergy.

Next Generation Risk Assessment

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs): Risk assessments of some food substances have been shifting to adopt high-throughput, non-animal method strategies for demonstrating safety. These methods, along with new in vitro, in silico and powerful computer modeling tools, are called NAMs. IAFNS efforts focus on available safety assessments of food substances to identify classes of food substances that have leveraged NAMs data to support a regulatory approval. This would include a review of safety determinations by the U.S. FDA in its publicly available GRAS database, as well as those from the European Food Safety Authority.
Evidence-Based Assessment of Potential Carcinogens in Human Diets: Risk assessment of chemicals that are potentially carcinogenic in humans often relies on extrapolation from bioassays. There is a growing belief in the scientific community that evidence-based risk assessment can replace historical approaches. This project will first categorize potential exposure and mode of action scenarios and then be followed by the development of a framework based on sectoral examples.
Exposure Assessment for Food Contaminants Through Implementation of Probabilistic Modeling: Toxicological exposure assessments generally rely on deterministic approaches utilizing conservative inputs. Probabilistic assessments can refine deterministic assessments and better account for exposure variability and uncertainty. This project will analyze the current state of exposure modeling by regulatory agencies and highlight the value of integrating probabilistic exposure assessments into regulatory frameworks. It will also address factors that hinder adoption of probabilistic exposure models.
New Methodologies for Tiered Risk Assessment Using The RISK21 Approach: Programs such ToxCast have generated large amounts of in vitro high‒throughput screening (HTS) data while leaving a gap for best approaches for interpretation and use of this data. To fill this gap, case studies were conducted on two indirect food additive chemicals: sodium (2-pyridylthio)-N-oxide and dibutyltin dichloride. This work highlights the potential utility of the RISK21 approach for interpretation of the ToxCast HTS data, as well as the challenges involved in integrating in vitro HTS data into safety assessments. Access the full publication

Mycotoxins

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a mycotoxin that infects cereal grains, causes adverse gastrointestinal immunotoxic effects. A recent study examined the impact of recent Codex guidelines on maximum allowable DON levels on global wheat trade and potential global health effects. Stricter DON standards drive developing nations to export their best quality grains and keep more heavily contaminated foods for domestic consumption, resulting in higher mycotoxin exposure. As such, the guidelines may lead to unintended negative health outcomes in developing nations.

Access publications below:

Risk Assessment of DON exposure in wheat
Risk-Based Approach to Mycotoxin Mitigation
Global What Trade and Codex Guidelines for DON

Heavy Metals

A Framework for Heavy Metal Exposure Reduction in Human Diets -- Heavy metals (also referred to as toxic elements) such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic are widely present in the environment due to natural occurrence (e.g., in agricultural soils) and anthropomorphic activities. Heavy metals can sometimes unavoidably enter the food supply from various routes such as soil, water and air, as well as agricultural practices. Aligned with FDA’s ‘Closer to Zero’ initiative for reducing toxic elements in foods for babies and infants, the committee has launched two complementary research projects that aim to develop a framework for reducing exposure to heavy metals in foods. Framework elements will include metal/commodity prioritization, concentration ranges, exposure assessments, agricultural practices, and current and future mitigation options along the production and supply chains.
Review of Regulatory Reference Values and Background Levels for Heavy Metals in the Human Diet -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified dietary exposure to heavy metals as a public health concern, focusing particularly on arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. One way to assess exposure risk is to compare established safe exposure limits (reference values) with current population-based dietary background levels. In a recent paper, information on reference values and dietary background exposure were quickly evaluated and updated. These new regulatory and consumption levels inform a novel, interactive, web-based tool that can be used for screening-level assessments of potential risks of heavy metals in foods and ingredients.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Abbott Nutrition
ADM
Beech-Nut
Cargill, Incorporated
Campbell Soup
Conagra Brands
General Mills, Inc.
The Hershey Company
International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.
Keurig Dr Pepper
Kraft Heinz Company
Mondelēz International

ACADEMIC ADVISOR
Norbert Kaminski, PhD, Michigan State University

GOVERNMENT LIAISONS
Suzanne Fitzpatrick, PhD, DABT
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Randolph Duverna, PhD
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Food Safety & Inspection Service Office of Public Health Service

Katie Weyrauch
U.S Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service

Shoushan Steve Zeng, PhD

U.S Department of Agriculture

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Louis D'Amico, PhD
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development

Join Us!

Projects Supported by the Committee:

iafns Review of EU Novel Food submissions and US GRAS Petitions to identify opportunities for use of New Approach Methodologies for safety determinations of food substances

Review of EU Novel Food submissions and US GRAS Petitions to identify opportunities for use of New Approach Methodologies for safety determinations of food substances

Heavy Metals in US Foods: Exposure Assessment by Age Group and Mitigation Strategies

A Framework for Heavy Metal Prioritization and Mitigation for Reducing Metal Intake: Rice and Spinach Case Studies

Advancing Exposure Assessment for Food Contaminants Through Implementation of Probabilistic Modeling

Development of a Research Framework for Evidence-Based Assessment of Potential Carcinogens in Human Diets

Updating the Metal Dietary Exposure Screening Tool

Assessing Human Health Impacts of Global Adoption of Codex Deoxynivalenol (DON) Guidelines

Evaluation of the Dose-Response for Peanut Allergen

Evaluating the Applicability of Read-Across Tools and High-Throughput Screening Data for Food Relevant Chemicals

Comparison and Analysis of Toxcast Data with In Vivo Data for Food-Relevant Compounds Using The Risk21 Approach

Evaluation of Arsenic-Induced Intracytoplasmic Inclusions

Evaluating the Association between Dietary Exposure to Inorganic Arsenic on Health Outcomes for the US Population

An Approach to Standardize the Concepts of Low Dose and Nonmonotonic Dose Response in Toxicological Research and Regulatory Science

Toxicology and Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures

Evaluation of Food-Relevant Chemicals in ToxCast Phase II

Publications

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Unintended Food Safety Impacts of Agricultural Circular Economies, with Case Studies in Arsenic and Mycotoxins

Science of Food, 2024

New research finds that arsenic and mycotoxin risks could be amplified by sustainabile farming practices.

Mitigating Toxic Metal Exposure Through Leafy Greens: A Comprehensive Review Contrasting Cadmium and Lead in Spinach

GeoHealth, 2024

Toxic metals like cadmiun and lead in foods can be harmful to our health especially for babies and young children who are more vulnerable due to their small size and rapid development.

Development of a Framework for Risk Assessment of Potential Carcinogens

Food & Chemical Toxicology, 2023

This framework provides risk managers with additional flexibility in risk management and risk communication options.

Dietary Exposure to Cadmium from Six Common Foods in the United States

Food & Chemical Toxicology, 2023

This research aids the FDA Action Plan by estimating the American population’s Cadmium exposures in food, by age group and consumption patterns of certain high-risk foods; and by determining circumstances in which exposures exceed tolerable daily intakes.

Trends in Food Allergy Research, Regulations and Patient Care

Nutrition Today, 2022

Recent research on food allergies is summarized as well as the regulatory context for allergens. Patient care options are outlined as well as helpful tips for nutritionists concerned about addressing and managing food allergies with their clients.

Events

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IAFNS Food & Chemical Safety Committee Meeting

December 6, 2024

Washington DC, Event

IAFNS will host an upcoming Food & Chemical Safety Committee Meeting on Dec. 6, 2024.

IAFNS at ACS Fall 2024

August 18, 2024 – August 22, 2024

Denver, Colorado

IAFNS will present at the American Chemical Society Fall 2024 Meeting.

IAFNS at IAFP 2024

July 14, 2024 – July 17, 2024

Long Beach, CA, USA

The IAFP 2024 Annual Meeting featured three sessions by the IAFNS Food Microbiology and Food Chemical Safety Committees.

IAFNS at IAFP 2023

July 16, 2023 – July 19, 2023

Toronto, Canada

Each year, the International Association for Food Protection hosts an Annual Meeting, providing attendees with information on current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, innovative solutions to new and recurring problems, and the opportunity to network with thousands of food safety professionals from around the globe. IAFNS is proud to support four sessions this year!

Federal and State Efforts to Restrict PFAS: Impact on Food Companies

November 14, 2022

Virtual, Event

This webinar will highlight recent and upcoming state laws and federal-level actions that will likely impact food companies and their packaging suppliers. The webinar will also highlight EPA’s actions under the PFAS Strategic Roadmap and preview expected actions later in 2022 and beyond.

How this committee operates: