EU scientists find new way to more accurately estimate consumer exposure to enzymes

Scientists from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Wednesday announced that they had found a new approach to estimate consumer exposure to enzymes used in food production more accurately, which would improve the safety evaluation of food.

Christina Tlustos, an exposure expert who sits on EFSA's panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavorings and processing aids, said they have developed an exposure tool which can be tailored to each food process involving food enzymes.

The tool uses technical conversion factors, which means the scientists can combine food consumption data with enzyme use levels and take into account the level of transfer of food enzymes into food products.

Enzymes are protein molecules that catalyse chemical reactions. In the past, they were not considered to be toxic since they were produced naturally by living organisms and present in ingredients used to make food.

However, nowadays, foods are also made using enzymes produced industrially. These enzymes are extracted from plant and animal tissues or produced by fermentation of microorganisms, according to the announcement.

EFSA has received over 300 applications for food enzyme safety evaluations from the European Commission. The use of the new approach paves the way for the evaluation of these applications, it said. Endit