Abstract
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and its analogues are naturally occurring toxins responsible worldwide for human intoxication cases and fatalities, mainly associated with pufferfish consumption. In the last decade, TTXs were detected in marine bivalves and gastropods from European waters. As TTXs are not regulated or monitored at EU level, their unexpected occurrence in shellfish raised concerns as a food safety hazard and revealed the necessity of a thorough assessment on the public health risks associated with their presence. For this reason, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was requested by the European Commission to provide a scientific opinion, finally adopted in March 2017, according to which a provisional concentration below 44 μg TTX equivalents/kg shellfish meat, based on a large portion size of 400 g, was considered not to result in adverse effects in humans. The EFSA expert panel, however, recognized a number of shortcomings and uncertainties related to the unavailability of sufficient scientific data and provided relevant recommendations for future research to overcome these data gaps identified in order to further refine the risk assessment on TTXs. The present review aims to summarize the knowledge obtained towards addressing these recommendations in the two years following publication of the EFSA opinion, at the same time highlighting the points requiring further investigation.
Highlights
IntroductionTetrodotoxin (TTX) is a naturally-occurring neurotoxin known to cause human poisoning incidents, sometimes lethal, and historically related to the consumption of certain pufferfish species, especially in
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a naturally-occurring neurotoxin known to cause human poisoning incidents, sometimes lethal, and historically related to the consumption of certain pufferfish species, especially inJapan where the so-called “fugu” dish is considered a delicacy [1]
The present review aims to summarize the knowledge obtained towards addressing these recommendations in the two years following publication of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinion, at the same time highlighting the points requiring further investigation
Summary
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a naturally-occurring neurotoxin known to cause human poisoning incidents, sometimes lethal, and historically related to the consumption of certain pufferfish species, especially in. [18], raises doubts towards the opposite direction regarding calculation of the above EFSA-proposed concentration, as at the time of that risk assessment the aforementioned dose was documented as a NOAEL for acute oral toxicity [19] In this context, the present review aims to provide a summary of the recent advances concerning the public health risks associated with the presence of TTXs in Europe two years after adoption of the relevant EFSA scientific opinion [16]. Using the same approach and following the conclusions and recommendations of that particular publication, a re-initiation of scientific dialogue is proposed for the refinement of the existing risk assessment and establishment of at least a uniform regulatory management approach for this toxin group at EU level
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