Dietary Estimates of Dioxins Consumed in U.S. Department of Agriculture–Regulated Meat and Poultry Products

• Published in: Journal of food protection 2013-09, Vol.76 (9), p.1597-1607
• Main Authors: Dearfield, Kerry L, Edwards, Sarah R, O'Keefe, Margaret M, Abdelmajid, Naser M, Blanchard, Ashley J, LaBarre, David D, Bennett, Patty A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age groups; Agriculture; Animals; Beef; Biological and medical sciences; Child; children; Consumption patterns; Diet; Dietary Guidelines; Dietary supplements; Dioxins; Dioxins - administration & dosage; Dioxins - adverse effects; Dioxins - analysis; Environmental protection; Environmental Protection Agency; Estimates; Food Contamination - analysis; Food industries; Food products; Food Safety; Food Safety and Inspection Service; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Handbooks; Humans; Meat; Meat Products - analysis; Nutrition Policy; Nutrition research; PCB; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Population; Poultry; poultry meat; Poultry Products - analysis; Public health; risk; Software; TCDD; tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin; Toxicity; United States; United States Department of Agriculture
• ISSN: 0362-028X; 1944-9097
• DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-13-046

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) examined whether levels of dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) measured in FSIS-regulated meat and poultry products indicate possible concern for U.S. public health based on usual and recommended consumption patterns of meat and poultry for the U.S. population. The FSIS estimated daily dietary exposures and compared them with the reference dose (RfD) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for potential noncancer risks from 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), assuming that all measured DLCs were represented by the RfD (i.e., not just TCDD alone). The estimates indicate that a typical U.S. adult daily exposure of DLCs from FSIS-regulated products is below the EPA-established RfD. Only children consuming chronic average daily servings of meat or poultry products containing the highest measured levels of DLCs may exceed the RfD. If one follows the recommendations from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, all expected exposures to DLCs from FSIS-regulated products are estimated to be well below the RfD.