Estimates of per capita exposure to substances migrating from canned foods and beverages

Abstract

A study was undertaken by European industry to estimate the consumption of canned beverages and foodstuffs. European can production data were used with adjustments for imports into and out of the EU. It was further assumed that can production, with adjustments, equalled consumption. Owing to the lack of actual consumption country-by-country or household-by-household data throughout Europe, only per capita estimates of consumption were possible. Data were compiled country-by-country for seven major can-producing EU Member States and for eight different types of canned food and two types of canned beverage (beer and soft drinks). The per capita consumption of canned foods was 1.1 cans/person/week, and consumption of canned fish was estimated as 2.2 kg/person/year. The estimate of per capita consumption of canned food was 62 g/person/day or 22.6 kg/person/year. Canned beverages account for about 60% of the consumption of canned foodstuffs. The usefulness of per capita consumption of beverages is questionable because consumption habits may vary more widely than those for canned foods. However, as the migration into beverages is insignificant, these data were added for completeness. Per capita consumption of canned beverages is 67 cans/person/year or 61 g/person/day. From the average can sizes, the surface area of the cans consumed was estimated. The per capita surface area exposure was 0.55 dm2 /person/day for canned foods and 0.55 dm2 /person/day for canned beverages, giving 1.1 dm2 /person/day. Migration of a substance at 0.02 mg dm2 gives an exposure of 0.01 mg/person/day assuming a per capita consumption, using a surface area model. Migration at 0.12 mg kg-1 in food gives an exposure of 0.007 mg/person/day using a weight model. Both models assumed migration into all food types at the same level, which is highly unrealistic. Exposure to BADGE from canned foods has been used as a case study. The best estimate for a worst case per capita exposure to BADGE and relevant derivatives was between 6 and 10 μg/person/day, depending upon the approach and assumptions used.