Re‐evaluation of oxidised soya bean oil interacted with mono‐ and diglycerides of fatty acids (E 479b) as a food additive

The EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) provides a scientific opinion re‐evaluating the safety of thermally oxidised soya bean oil interacted with mono‐ and diglycerides of fatty acids (TOSOM) (E 479b) when used as a food additive. The Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) derived an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 25 and 30 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day, respectively. There was no reliable information regarding the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME) for TOSOM. No adverse effects have been detected in a limited subchronic toxicity study in pigs. The Panel identified a no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of 5,400, the highest dose tested, from a chronic and carcinogenicity study in rats. No genotoxicity data were available. No reliable studies for reproductive or developmental toxicity were available. From the chronic and carcinogenicity study, no lesions in reproductive organs were described and the lack of carcinogenic effect alleviated the concern for genotoxicity at the first site of contact. The Panel concluded that the available toxicological data were insufficient to support the current ADI, in particular, due to the lack of ADME data and absence of developmental toxicity studies TOSOM (E 479b) is only authorised in one food category and only one reported use level that equals the maximum permitted level was submitted. The estimated high (P95) exposure reached an upper value of 10.1 mg/kg bw per day for toddlers. When comparing the highest estimated exposure of 10 mg/kg bw per day in toddlers with the NOAEL of 5,400 mg/kg bw per day (the highest dose tested), the margin of safety (MoS) would be 540. Therefore, the Panel considered the use of TOSOM (E 479b) to be of no safety concern, in particular when considering the limited current use of this food additive. The Panel also recommended some modifications of the EU specifications for E 479b.