Chapter 3 - Risk assessment of food additives and contaminants

Abstract

Risk assessment in the context of food is defined as a process for establishing the likelihood of adverse effects to human health from exposure to chemical agents in food. A series of tests have been developed over many years to evaluate the hazards of food additives and contaminants. Tests are normally conducted in a relevant sequence, and not all of these tests are carried out for most food additives and contaminants. Epidemiology studies are the primary source of direct information on the relationship between chronic exposure to chemicals, particularly mixtures of chemicals, and the possible human adverse health effects. Exposure assessment is a key part of the risk assessment process. Exposure assessment is often the weakest link of a risk assessment process because of limited sampling and variations in exposure across areas of a country, or among countries. Risk characterization draws on the information in hazard identification and characterization to establish the risk to consumers at particular levels of intake of individual food additives and contaminants.