Partitioning of Dietary Metal Intake--A Metal Dietary Exposure Screening Tool.

Detection of heavy metals at trace or higher levels in foods and food ingredients is not unexpected given the widespread unavoidable presence of several metals in nature, coupled with advancement in analytical methods and lowering limits of detection. To assist risk managers with a rapid risk assessment when facing these situations, a metal dietary exposure screening tool (MDEST) was developed. The tool uses food intake rates based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010 consumption data for the U.S. population two+ years and up and for infants age six months to

U.S. perspective on mycotoxin regulatory issues.

Control programs set up by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for aflatoxin, an unavoidable natural contaminant produced by specific molds that invade a number of feedstuffs and basic foods, provide an example of forces that affect risk assessment and management strategies by a regulatory agency. More recently, on an international scale, efforts to establish international food standards for fumonisin, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, zearalenone, and patulin, as well as for aflatoxin, demonstrate the complexity of developing regulations and/or standards designed to protect consumer health and ensure fair trade practices on a global scale. Current FDA regulations for aflatoxins address public health concerns for potential contamination in basic foods, residues in milk, and animal feeds for numerous commodities and applications. Regulatory limits, sampling and analytical procedures, decontamination and/or diversion to less risk uses for contaminated product are components of mycotoxin control programs. Current efforts by FDA to establish regulatory controls for deoxynivalenol, fumonisin, and patulin add further insight on the role that safety and risk assessment procedures play in the development of action levels and advisories for mycotoxins.