Commentary of the SKLM to the EFSA opinion on risk assessment of N-nitrosamines in food.

Dietary exposure to N-nitrosamines has recently been assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to result in margins of exposure that are conceived to indicate concern with respect to human health risk. However, evidence from more than half a century of international research shows that N-nitroso compounds (NOC) can also be formed endogenously. In this commentary of the Senate Commission on Food Safety (SKLM) of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the complex metabolic and physiological biokinetics network of nitrate, nitrite and reactive nitrogen species is discussed with emphasis on its influence on endogenous NOC formation. Pioneering approaches to monitor endogenous NOC have been based on steady-state levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in human blood and on DNA adduct levels in blood cells. Further NOC have not been considered yet to a comparable extent, although their generation from endogenous or exogenous precursors is to be expected. The evidence available to date indicates that endogenous NDMA exposure could exceed dietary exposure by about 2-3 orders of magnitude. These findings require consolidation by refined toxicokinetics and DNA adduct monitoring data to achieve a credible and comprehensive human health risk assessment.

Controversy on health-based guidance values for bisphenol A-the need of criteria for studies that serve as a basis for risk assessment.

Since 2006, the responsible regulatory bodies have proposed five health-based guidance values (HBGV) for bisphenol A (BPA) that differ by a factor of 250,000. This range of HBGVs covers a considerable part of the range from highly toxic to relatively non-toxic substances. As such heterogeneity of regulatory opinions is a challenge not only for scientific risk assessment but also for all stakeholders, the Senate Commission on Food Safety (SKLM) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) analyzed the reasons for the current discrepancy and used this example to suggest improvements for the process of HBGV recommendations. A key aspect for deriving a HBGV is the selection of appropriate studies that allow the identification of a point of departure (PoD) for risk assessment. In the case of BPA, the HBGV derived in the 2023 EFSA assessment was based on a study that reported an increase of Th17 cells in mice with a benchmark dose lower bound (BMDL40) of 0.53 µg/kg bw/day. However, this study does not comply with several criteria that are important for scientific risk assessment: (1) the selected end-point, Th17 cell frequency in the spleen of mice, is insufficiently understood with respect to health outcomes. (2) It is unclear, by which mechanism BPA may cause an increase in Th17 cell frequency. (3) It is unknown, if an increase of Th17 cell frequency in rodents is comparably observed in humans. (4) Toxicokinetics were not addressed. (5) Neither the raw data nor the experimental protocols are available. A further particularly important criterion (6) is independent data confirmation which is not available in the present case. Previous studies using other readouts did not observe immune-related adverse effects such as inflammation, even at doses orders of magnitude higher than in the Th17 cell-based study. The SKLM not only provides here key criteria for the use of such studies, but also suggests that the use of such a "checklist" requires a careful and comprehensive scientific judgement of each item. It is concluded that the Th17 cell-based study data do not represent an adequate basis for risk assessment of BPA.

Microencapsulation of probiotic cells for food applications.

The addition of microencapsulated probiotic cells to food products is a relatively new functional food concept. Most of the published scientific research in this field is not older than ten years. However, the technological background reaches back to the 1980s, where lactic acid bacteria were microencapsulated within the concept of the so-called immobilized cell technology (ICT). Target applications of ICT were continuous fermentation processes and improved biomass production. The methods adopted from immobilized cell technology were applied for the microencapsulation of probiotics, often optimized towards specific requirements associated with the protection of probiotic cells in food applications. However, there are still significant hurdles with respect to currently available methods for probiotic cell microencapsulation. This is mainly due to the fact that important characteristics of microcapsules based on ICT appear to be in conflict with the requirements arising from an application of probiotic microcapsules in food products, with particle size and inappropriate matrix characteristics being the most prominent ones. Based on this situation the aim of this review is to give a critical overview of the current approaches regarding the microencapsulation of probiotic cells for food applications and to report on emerging developments.

Impact of water activity, temperature, and physical state on the storage stability of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei freeze-dried in a lactose matrix.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the combined effect of water activity and temperature on inactivation rates of freeze-dried microorganisms in a lactose matrix could be explained in terms of the glass transition theory. The stabilized glass transition temperature, Tg, of the freeze-dried products was determined by differential scanning calorimetry at two different temperatures, T (20 and 37 degrees C), and different water activities (0.07-0.48). This information served as a basis for defining conditions of T and water activity, which led to storage of the bacteria in the glassy (T < Tg) and nonglassy (T > Tg) states. The rates of inactivation of the dry microorganisms subjected to different storage conditions were determined by plate counts and could be described by first-order kinetics. Rates were analyzed as a function of water activity, storage temperature, and the difference between Tg and T. Inactivation below Tg was low; however, Tg could not be regarded as an absolute threshold of bacteria stability during storage. When the cells were stored in the nonglassy state (T > Tg), inactivation proceeded faster, however, not as rapid as suggested by the temperature dependence of the viscosity above the glass transition temperature. Furthermore, the first-order rate constant, k, was dependent on the storage temperature per se rather than on the temperature difference between the glass transition temperature and the storage temperature (T - Tg).