Occurrence of 3- and 2-monochloropropanediol esters in infant formulas in China and exposure assessment

ABSTRACT

The presence of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) esters and 2-MCPD esters in infant formulas have raised a number of food safety concerns. Here, a dietary exposure assessment was conducted for 3-and 2-MCPD esters in infant formulas available for consumption in Chinese infant and toddlers aged 0–3 years old. This work presents the occurrence data for 3-and 2-MCPD ester in 874 infant formulas purchased in China between 2015 and 2017. The concentrations of 3-MCPD esters ranged from ND to 1.469 mg/kg, with concentrations of 2-MCPD esters ranging from ND to 0.218 mg/kg. The LODs of 3-and 2-MCPD esters were 0.027–0.074 mg/kg. The mean exposures of infants and toddlers to 3-MCPD esters from formulas were lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI, 2 μg/kg bw/day, established by EFSA), while high exposures (95th percentile) to 3-MCPD esters ranged from 0.907 to 2.520 μg/kg bw/day. On the whole, the health risk of Chinese infant and toddlers exposed to 3-MCPD esters was low, but the health risk of some infants aged 0–6 months with high formula consumption (95th percentile) raises some concern.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• 3-MCPD esters
• 2-MCPD esters
• infant formula
• exposure assessment

Acknowledgments

All authors would like to acknowledge all the staff involved in the sample collection, testing and consumption data survey.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality [7192086]; CIFST Food Science and Technology Fund – Abbott Food Nutrition and Safety Special Research Fund [2017-17]; National Key Research and Development Program of China [2018YFC1603600 and 2018YFC1603100].