PARMA, Italy—The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published the first in a series of opinions on .products that are added to foods to give a smoked flavor. EFSA’s CEF Panel concluded that the use of the flavoring product Smoke Concentrate 809045 was not of safety concern; however, it expressed safety concerns over the use of Unismoke and Zesti Smoke Code 10.
The findings were based on exposure estimates for all of the smoke flavorings that are used in the European Union.
EFSA’s exposure estimates—which looked at cumulative exposure to the different flavoring products in different categories of food, based on proposed uses and use levels supplied by the manufacturers—indicated that exposure mainly arises for Unismoke, through meat and meat products, as well as soups and sauces; for Zesti Smoke Code 10, through meat and meat products, fish and fish products, composite foods (such as casseroles and meat pies) and processed fruits and vegetables; for Smoke Concentrate 809045, through meat and meat products, soups, sauces, protein products and ready-to-eat savories.
Studies showed that Unismoke and Zesti Smoke Code 10 caused adverse health effects in rats above certain intake levels. Due to the absence of data on reproduction and developmental toxicity and the lack of long-term studies on these two flavorings products, the CEF Panel concluded that the uses and use levels specified by their manufacturers would require larger margins of safety. Smoke Concentrate 809045 was found to cause no adverse health effects in rats at the highest levels tested.
