EFSA confirms health concerns for furans in food
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a scientific opinion on the risk to human health of the presence of furan and methylfurans (2-methylfuran, 3-methylfuran, and 2,5-dimethylfuran) in food. The agency has found that “consumer exposure to furan and methylfurans in food could lead to possible long-term liver damage.”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a scientific opinion on the risk to human health of the presence of furan and methylfurans (2-methylfuran, 3-methylfuran, and 2,5-dimethylfuran) in food. The agency has found that “consumer exposure to furan and methylfurans in food could lead to possible long-term liver damage.” The most exposed group of people are infants, mainly through consumption of ready-to-eat jarred or canned foods. Exposure in other population groups is mainly from consumption of grain-based foods and coffee, depending on age and consumer habits.
Furan and the related compounds 2- and 3-methylfurans are chemical contaminants that naturally form during thermal food processing, including cooking. These substances have always been present in cooked or heated foods.
EFSA carried out this assessment following its monitoring of furan levels in food and assessing consumer exposure and upon the request of the European Commission. The finding aligned with the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
“Based on animal studies we concluded that liver damage and liver cancer are the most critical health effects,” said Helle Knutsen, EFSA’s chair of the expert panel on contaminants in the food chain. “How furan might cause cancer in animals is not fully understood. Since the panel could not rule out that this may be due to a direct interaction with DNA, we were not able to set a safe level—the tolerable daily intake. Instead we calculated a ‘margin of exposure.’”
The EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) used a margin of exposure (MOE) approach for the risk characterization using as a reference point a benchmark dose lower confidence limit for a benchmark response of 10% of 0.064 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day for the incidence of cholangiofibrosis in the rat. The calculated MOEs indicate a health concern.
Although the average intake of foods containing furan indicates a low health concern for most consumers, for those that consume high amounts exposure is up to three times what would be considered of low concern for public health. Dietary exposure is higher when also taking 2- and 3-methylfuran into account; for example, levels of 2-methylfuran in coffee can be four times higher than furan.
The opinion also offers input on how cooking practices could reduce dietary exposure to furan and methylfurans. For example, due to the volatility of furan, reheating ready-to-eat meals for infants and young children in a hot water bath without a lid may reduce their exposure by about 15%–30%.