Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food (AFC) on a request from the Commission related to N-Acetyl-L-methionine for use in foods for special medical purposes.

No abstract available

The Scientific Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids and Materials in Contact with Food has been asked to evaluate N-acetyl-L-methionine as a source of L-methionine for use in foods for special medical purposes in children over one year and adults.

The Panel noted that N-acetyl-L-methionine is deacetylated in animals and humans to L-methionine. The bioavailability of methionine from N-acetyl-L-methionine is comparable to that from L-methionine used as such as similar mean plasma methionine concentrations were recorded in pigs and in humans after loading with equimolar quantities of each, as L-methionine and N-acetyl-L-methionine were equally utilised in healthy adult human males in terms of blood urea nitrogen levels and faecal and urinary nitrogen excretion, and as demonstrated in rat feeding studies measuring growth rate and protein efficiency ratio.

The Panel also noted that adequate data on bioavailability of L-methionine from N-acetyl-L-methionine in the presence of other N-acetyl amino acid derivatives are not available. When combining different N-acetylated amino acids as sources for the respective amino acids, the efficiency of their deacetylation may be affected. The bioavailability of amino acids from a product containing more than one acetylated nutrient source would have to be assessed as a part of the product development. Normally such information would be available as a part of a file supporting the intended use of the product.

The exposure to L-methionine from uses of N-acetyl-L-methionine in foods for special medical purposes will correspond to that of L-methionine if used as such, and therefore is unlikely to give rise to adverse health effects based on the present knowledge on methionine toxicity. The Panel concluded that N-acetyl-L-methionine as a source of L-methionine for use in foods for special medical purposes in children over one year of age and adults is not of concern from the safety point of view.