Benzoates and in situ formed benzene in food supplements and risk assessment

ABSTRACT

Upward trend in the use of food supplements urged the assessment of their safety. Eighty-eight liquid herbal supplements collected in Novi Sad (Serbia) in 2018 (36 samples) and 2021 (52 samples) were analysed for the presence of benzoates and sorbates (HPLC-UV) and benzene (HS-GC/MS). Benzoic acid varied from 599 to 9253 mg/kg and sorbic acid between 185 and 1658 mg/kg. The acceptable daily intake of sorbic acid was not reached, but in case of benzoic acid, it was exceeded by 5.3% of the samples. The presence of benzene was confirmed in 41.2% of benzoate preserved supplements (0.9–51.7 µg/kg). Benzene exposure revealed no health concern: maximum hazard quotients ranged from 0.39% (toddlers) to 0.84% (adolescents); minimum margins of exposure were between 35,680 (adolescents) and 77,419 (toddlers); estimates of lifetime cancer risk did not reach one extra cancer case per 100 000 persons. However, measures to mitigate benzene presence in food should be considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Acceptable daily intake
• hazard quotient
• margin of exposure
• lifetime cancer risk

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research, AP Vojvodina, grant number [142-451-3129/2022-01] (project ‘‘Herbal products – the potential of unused resources of AP Vojvodina for the development of new drugs and dietary products”).