FAO Technical meeting on prebiotics.

Recognizing the possible beneficial effect of prebiotics in food, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened a Technical meeting to start work on the evaluation of the functional and health properties of prebiotics. A group of international experts agreed on guidelines, recommended criteria, and methodology for conducting a systematic approach for the evaluation of prebiotics leading to its safe use in food. It was recommended that a full expert consultation be convened under the auspices of FAO. This work provides governments, industry, and consumers with scientific advice in relation to functional and health aspects of prebiotics and general guidance for the assessment of prebiotics in relation to their nutritional properties or safety. These guidelines may also be used by Member Countries and Codex Alimentarius to identify and define what data need to be available to accurately substantiate health and nutrition claims.

Workgroup report: public health strategies for reducing aflatoxin exposure in developing countries.

Consecutive outbreaks of acute aflatoxicosis in Kenya in 2004 and 2005 caused > 150 deaths. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization convened a workgroup of international experts and health officials in Geneva, Switzerland, in July 2005. After discussions concerning what is known about aflatoxins, the workgroup identified gaps in current knowledge about acute and chronic human health effects of aflatoxins, surveillance and food monitoring, analytic methods, and the efficacy of intervention strategies. The workgroup also identified public health strategies that could be integrated with current agricultural approaches to resolve gaps in current knowledge and ultimately reduce morbidity and mortality associated with the consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated food in the developing world. Four issues that warrant immediate attention were identified: a) quantify the human health impacts and the burden of disease due to aflatoxin exposure; b) compile an inventory, evaluate the efficacy, and disseminate results of ongoing intervention strategies; c) develop and augment the disease surveillance, food monitoring, laboratory, and public health response capacity of affected regions; and d) develop a response protocol that can be used in the event of an outbreak of acute aflatoxicosis. This report expands on the workgroup's discussions concerning aflatoxin in developing countries and summarizes the findings.

Preliminary exposure assessment of deoxynivalenol and patulin in South Africa.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and patulin (PAT) are mycotoxins widely regulated internationally. DON is frequently found in cereals, whereas PAT is commonly found in apple juices. A survey of South African commercial products was conducted on DON levels in maize meal and wheat flours, and on PAT levels in apple juices. DON levels in 23 wheat flour samples (mean of 16 positives, 29 µg/kg) were equal to or below 100 µg/kg and in wheat consumers contributed 6-13% of the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI; 1 µg/kg body weight per day) for DON set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Sixteen of 18 maize meal samples were contaminated, with a mean for positive samples of 294 µg/kg, and the probable daily intakes ranged from 3.67 µg/kg body weight per day in rural infants to 1.39 µg/kg body weight per day in urban adults. PAT levels in 20 of 30 apple-juice samples were below the detection level of 10 µg/l. Mean of positive samples was 210 µg/l, with three samples exceeding the South African legal limit of 50 µg/l and the highest level (1,650 µg/l) showing the possibility of a brief but high exposure of 37 µg/kg body weight per day (or 9,250% of the JECFA PMTDI of 0.4 µg/kg body weight per day) in young children.

Probiotic bacteria: legislative framework-- requirements to evidence basis.

Following on from the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation and Working Group outputs on probiotics and their presentation to Codex, it is hoped that these will be used as a science-based risk assessment process for managerial decision on probiotics and that the "Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food" will be used as a model for scientific criteria for evaluation of health claims. It is also hoped that this work will be incorporated or taken as example for the Codex draft being prepared on health and nutrition claims and as a scientific assessment of a novel food and that the probiotic guidelines will be adopted by Industry.