Determination of furan levels in commercial samples of baby food from Brazil and preliminary risk assessment

• Published in: Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment, 2010-08, Vol.27 (8), p.1051-1059
• Main Authors: Pavesi Arisseto, A., Vicente, E., De Figueiredo Toledo, M.C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: baby food; Baby foods; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil; Carcinogens - analysis; Carcinogens - chemistry; Chemical compounds; Chromatography; exposure assessment; Fast Foods - analysis; Food additives; Food Contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food industries; Fruit - chemistry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Furans - analysis; Furans - chemistry; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS); Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry - methods; Health risk assessment; Humans; Infant; Infant Food - analysis; Limit of Detection; Mass spectrometry; Meat - analysis; process contaminants; Reproducibility of Results; Risk Assessment - methods; Solid Phase Microextraction - methods; solid-phase microextraction (SPME); Vegetables - chemistry
• ISSN: 1944-0049; 1944-0057
• DOI: 10.1080/19440041003801182

Commercial baby food samples available on the Brazilian market (n = 31) were analysed for furan content using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method preceded by solid-phase microextraction. A limit of detection of 0.7 µg kg −1 , a limit of quantitation of 2.4 µg kg −1 , mean recoveries varying from 80% to 107%, and coefficients of variation ranging from 5.6% to 9.4% for repeatability and from 7.4% to 12.4% for within-laboratory reproducibility were obtained during an in-house validation. The levels of furan found in the samples were from not detected to 95.5 µg kg −1 . Samples containing vegetables and meat showed higher furan levels as compared with those containing only fruits. An exposure assessment showed furan intakes up to 2.4 µg kg −1 body weight day −1 (99th percentile) for babies fed exclusively with commercial baby foods. Margins of exposure obtained from intakes estimated in this work indicated a potential public health concern.