The processing factors of canning and pasteurization for the most frequently occurring fungicides and insecticides in apples and their application into dietary risk assessment

Abstract

The challenge of the present comprehensive work was to study, from apple orchards to consumer’s plate, the influence of high- and low-temperature thermal treatments on the most frequently occurring fungicides (boscalid, captan, pyraclostrobin) and insecticides (acetamiprid, methoxyfenozide) in apples and processing factor (PF) application for more realistic dietary risk assessment in the new EFSA methodology. Dry pasteurization and canning combined with previous preliminary treatment gave PFs = 0.25–1.8 of the five active substances. Acute exposure (expressed as %ARfD) in the raw commodity was demonstrated to be 168.1% for acetamiprid in the worst case (input – highest residue) and 307.9% for boscalid in the most critical case (input - MRL), and after re-calculation for PF, decreased to 139.5% for acetamiprid in canned product and 203.2% for boscalid in pasteurized apples. These novel data may be helpful in estimating new threshold residue levels significant in food safety especially intended for children.