Safety evaluation of certain contaminants in food: prepared by the one hundred and first meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)

Overview

This monograph presents the safety evaluation of arsenic as a contaminant in food conducted by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) at its one-hundred-and-first meeting. Prepared in response to a request from the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods, the evaluation updates previous JECFA assessments and considers inorganic arsenic and a range of small and complex organoarsenic species, drawing on original studies, submitted data and relevant scientific literature.

The publication reviews biochemical and toxicological data, observations in humans, analytical methods for arsenic speciation, transfer from animal feed to food, sampling protocols, and the effects of processing. It also examines prevention and control measures, levels and patterns of contamination in food commodities, drinking-water and human breast milk, and dietary exposure estimates from multiple countries and regions. Dose–response analyses are presented for inorganic arsenic, dimethylarsinate and methylarsonate, together with the Committee’s evaluations and recommendations, providing a scientific basis for food safety risk assessment and risk management.