Acetaldehyde as flavouring substance: considerations for risk assessment – Dr Alexander Cartus is co-author of an opinion published in the Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety
As a member of the working group on food constituents within the SKLM (Senate Commission on Food Safety) of the DFG (German Research Foundation), Dr Alexander Cartus (Chemservice Luxembourg) together with professors and representatives of authorities and industry has recently published an opinion on the use of acetaldehyde as food flavouring substance.
The German-language peer-reviewed article with the full title ‘Opinion on acetaldehyde as a flavouring substance: considerations for risk assessment’ was recently published in the Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety which is the scientific journal of the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit, BVL).
The article summarizes the current knowledge on the human risk assessment of acetaldehyde used as a food flavouring substance. Acetaldehyde is globally harmonized classified as Car. 1B and Muta. 2. IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) classified acetaldehyde as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’ (group 2B), and, associated with alcohol consumption, as human carcinogen (group 1). Based on the available data, SKLM points out that a genotoxic and carcinogenic hazard potential of acetaldehyde after oral intake, especially for directly exposed tissues, cannot be ruled out. SKLM further concludes that there are concerns as to the safe use of acetaldehyde as a flavouring substance and that its deliberate addition to food should be re-assessed for reasons of precautionary consumer protection.
The open access article is available via the following link: