An updated estimate of benzoate intakes from non-alcoholic beverages in Canada and the United States

Figures & data

Table 1. Percent benzoate-containing beverages, weighted average use level of benzoates (as benzoic acid), and highest reported use level of benzoates (as benzoic acid) in Canada and the United States by beverage type within the GSFA 14.1.4 ‘Water-based flavoured drinks’ category (Martyn et al. 2017), as utilised in the exposure assessment models

GSFA 14.1.4 ‘Water-based flavoured drinks’ category, beverage types^a	Canada			United States
	% benzoate-containing beverages^b	Benzoate use level (mg kg^-1)		% benzoate-containing beverages^b	Benzoate use level (mg kg^-1)
		Ave.^c	Max.		Ave.^c	Max.
Low- and no-calorie sweetened CSDs	97.2	174	690^d	100.0	197	400^d
Regular CSDs	38.3	79	438^d	50.0	115	428^d
Flavoured water drinks	0.0	0	0	2.3	4	197
Juice drinks^e	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Energy drinks	64.3	109	429	65.1	111	431
Sports drinks	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0
RTD teas	61.0	56	91	44.3	67	196^d
RTD coffees	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0

Ave., average; CSDs, carbonated soft drinks; GSFA, Codex General Standard for Food Additives; Max., maximum; RTD, ready-to-drink

^aBeverage types within the Codex GSFA 14.1.4 ‘Water-based flavoured drinks’ category were determined based on conventional beverage products as defined by industry.

^bPercent of benzoate-containing beverages in corresponding beverage types was calculated based on presence of benzoates as noted by participating beverage manufacturers and/or label verifications. These values have been weighted according to the market volume share of the available brands in the specific jurisdiction.

^cMarket volume-weighted average use level of benzoates in beverage types.

^dUse level reported for product with pH > 3.5.

^eIncluding concentrates, products with less than 100% juice; previously ‘Fruit-juice based drinks’ (Martyn et al. 2017).

Table 2. Percent consumers^a of individual water-based flavoured drink (GSFA category 14.1.4) beverage types by subpopulation group in Canada (2015 CCHS-Nutrition) and the United States (2015–2016 NHANES)

Subpopulation group	n	Percent consumers (%)^b
		Low- and no-calorie sweetened CSDs	Regular CSDs	Flavoured water drinks	Juice drinks^c	Energy drinks	Sports drinks	RTD teas	RTD coffees	Any water-based flavoured drink
Canada, 2015 CCHS-Nutrition (Statistics Canada 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (2–7 yr^d)	618	1.0	7.6	0.3	22.1	0	1.0	1.7	n.a.	29.7
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,707	5.0	30.6	2.4	27.0	0.6	4.2	8.0	n.a.	58.5
Adults (18+ yr)	3,276	10.2	22.4	1.3	9.6	1.1	1.1	3.3	n.a.	41.5
Total population (2+ yr^d)	5,601	8.5	22.7	1.4	13.8	0.9	1.7	4.0	n.a.	43.6
United States, 2015–2016 NHANES (CDC 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (1–7 yr)	977	1.7	20.5	21.2	28.9	<0.1	5.4	7.7	0.5	59.6
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,319	2.3	49.3	19.9	25.7	0.7	11.5	16.6	1.8	82.4
Adults (18+ yr)	4,363	15.5	35.7	10.0	11.1	2.8	5.5	23.1	3.4	70.9
Total population (all ages, including infants)	6,968	12.3	35.8	12.2	14.6	2.2	6.3	20.6	2.9	70.6

CSDs, carbonated soft drinks; GSFA, Codex General Standard for Food Additives; n, number of subjects (unweighted); n.a., no food code available; RTD, ready-to-drink; yr, years

^aConsumers were identified as individuals reporting consumption of the specified beverage type on any of the two dietary survey recall days.

^bWeighted values.

^cIncluding concentrates, products with less than 100% juice; previously ‘Fruit-juice based drinks’ (Martyn et al. 2017).

^dBody weight data only available for individuals ≥ 2 years of age.

Table 3. Estimated daily exposure to benzoates from water-based flavoured drinks (limited to only those reported to contain benzoates) in Canada (2015 CCHS-Nutrition) and in the United States (2015–2016 NHANES) by subpopulation group for the general population and for benzoate consumers only, and comparison to the ADI of benzoates (5 mg kg bw^-1 day-1 as benzoic acid) – non-brand loyal probabilistic model

Subpopulation group	n	General population exposure					Benzoate consumer only exposure^a
		mg kg bw^-1 day^-1			%ADI		mg kg bw^-1 day^-1						%ADI
		Mean	SD	P95	Mean	P95	% cons	Mean	SD		P95		Mean		P95
Canada, 2015 CCHS-Nutrition (Statistics Canada 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (2–7 yr^b)	618	0.048	0.268	0.201	1	4	5.4	0.880		0.770	2.169			18	43
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,707	0.174	0.447	0.977	3	20	25.1	0.693		0.662	2.178			14	44
Adults (18+ yr)	3,276	0.153	0.412	0.891	3	18	23.7	0.645		0.632	1.844			13	37
Total population (2+ yr^b)	5,601	0.148	0.410	0.882	3	18	22.4	0.660		0.642	1.898			13	38
United States, 2015–2016 NHANES (CDC 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (1–7 yr)	977	0.217	0.655	1.476	4	30	18.0	1.206		1.090	3.110			24	62
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,319	0.410	0.749	1.933	8	39	40.5	1.011		0.880	2.742			20	55
Adults (18+ yr)	4,363	0.506	0.883	2.199	10	44	49.2	1.030		1.023	2.920			21	58
Total population (all ages, including infants)	6,968	0.461	0.848	2.103	9	42	44.6	1.034		1.009	2.902			21	58

%cons, percent consumers (weighted) within specified age cohort; ADI, acceptable daily intake; bw, body weight; CCHS, Canadian Community Health Survey; GSFA, Codex General Standard for Food Additives; n, number of subjects (unweighted); NHANES, United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; P95, 95^th percentile; SD, standard deviation; yr, years

^a‘Benzoate consumers’ were identified as individuals who consumed any water-based flavoured drink (GSFA category 14.1.4) during the two dietary survey recall days which were simulated to contain benzoates during the iterations.

^bBody weight data only available for individuals ≥ 2 years of age.

Table 4. Estimated daily exposure to benzoates from water-based flavoured drinks (limited only to those reported to contain benzoates) in Canada (2015 CCHS-Nutrition) and in the United States (2015–2016 NHANES) by subpopulation group for the general population and benzoate consumers only, and comparison to the ADI of benzoates (5 mg kg bw^-1 day-1 as benzoic acid) – brand loyal distributional model

Subpopulation group	n	General population exposure					Benzoate consumer only exposure^a
		mg kg bw^-1 day^-1			%ADI		%cons	mg kg bw^-1 day^-1			%ADI
		Mean	SD	P95	Mean	P95		Mean	SD	P95	Mean	P95
Canada, 2015 CCHS-Nutrition (Statistics Canada 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (2–7 yr^b)	618	0.149	0.709	0.893*	3	18*	10.0	1.489	1.740	6.108*	30	122*
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,707	0.482	0.906	2.364	10	47	39.5	1.220	1.085	2.928	24	59
Adults (18+ yr)	3,276	0.307	0.674	1.585	6	32	34.1	0.901	0.894	2.600	18	52
Total population (2+ yr^b)	5,601	0.326	0.730	1.672	7	33	33.1	0.985	0.980	2.699	20	54
United States, 2015–2016 NHANES (CDC 2018a)
Toddlers and young children (1–7 yr)	977	0.436	1.019	2.707	9	54	41.6	1.050	1.363	3.693	21	74
Other children and adolescents (8–17 yr)	1,319	0.833	1.185	3.187	17	64	68.1	1.222	1.260	3.779	24	76
Adults (18+ yr)	4,363	0.765	1.140	2.958	15	59	64.6	1.185	1.231	3.500	24	70
Total population (all ages, including infants)	6,968	0.736	1.136	2.942	15	59	62.3	1.182	1.243	3.586	24	72

%cons, percent consumers (weighted) within specified age cohort; ADI, acceptable daily intake; bw, body weight; CCHS, Canadian Community Health Survey; GSFA, Codex general standard for food additives; n, number of subjects (unweighted); NHANES, United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; P95, 95^th percentile; RegCSDs, regular carbonated soft drinks; SD, standard deviation; yr, years

^a‘Benzoate consumers’ were identified as individuals who consumed any water-based flavoured drink (GSFA category 14.1.4) containing benzoates during the two dietary survey recall days. The benzoate use level applied was the market volume-weighted average for each respective beverage type, except for RegCSDs. For RegCSDs the Codex maximum level (250 mg kg^-1, as benzoic acid) was applied to RegCSDs with pH ≤ 3.5 and the highest reported use level (438 mg kg^-1 for Canada and 428 mg kg^-1 for the United States, as benzoic acid) was applied for RegCSDs with pH > 3.5.

^bBody weight data only available for individuals over 2 years of age.

*Intake estimates (i.e., 0.893 or 6.108 mg kg bw^-1 day^-1 at the 95^th percentile for Canadian ‘toddlers and young children’ in the general population or who are benzoate consumers only, respectively, and 18 or 122% of the ADI for same) are not be statistically reliable as the sample size does not meet the minimum reporting requirements (mean n < 30; 95^th percentile n < 160).

Table 5. Qualitative evaluation of the influence of uncertainties on estimates of exposure to benzoates from non-alcoholic beverages calculated in Canada and the United States^a

Source of uncertainty	Direction and magnitude^b
Consumption data
Mis-/under-reporting of beverage consumption in dietary surveys	±
Use of data from short-term surveys to estimate chronic exposures	+
Mis-categorisation of beverage types	±
Beverage consumption data not considered at brand level^c	±
Rounding errors in food consumption data	±
Use level data
Use levels were provided by members of the International Council of Beverages Associations only (representing 73 to 83% of the market), no account for use levels by other industry members	±
Reported use level data were employed as opposed to analytically measured values (accounts for current formulation)	±
Lack of benzoate usage data for smaller brands not identified to hold a significant market share	±
Rounding errors, incorrect entries for concentration data	±
Probabilistic model
No consideration for brand loyal consumers	±
Probability of benzoate use levels being encountered for each consumer was based on market share (by volume) serving as a proxy to actual consumer behaviour	±
Brand loyal model
Codex ML of 250 mg kg^-1 (or max. reported level of 438 mg kg^-1 for Canada and 428 mg kg^-1 for the United States for beverages with pH > 3.5, where possible) applied to RegCSDs, the highest contributing beverage type	+
100% presence assumed for each beverage type in which benzoates were reported to be used – irrespective of whether these reported values accounted for a large proportion of the market (or not)	+

CCHS, Canadian Community Health Survey; EFSA, European Food Safety Authority; max., maximum; ML, maximum level; NHANES, United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; RegCSDs, regular carbonated soft drinks

^aConducted in accordance with the criteria specified in Codex and EFSA (CAC 2003; EFSA 2006).

^b+, ++, +++ are uncertainties likely to cause small, medium or large over-estimates of exposure, respectively, and -, – -, – - – are uncertainties likely to cause small, medium or large under-estimates of exposure, respectively.

^cIn the 2015–2016 NHANES dataset, some food codes representative of flavoured water drinks, juice drinks, energy drinks, and sports drinks were associated with a brand. However, as not all food codes were associated with a brand, and some of the other water-based flavoured drink beverage types were not associated with food codes containing any information on branding (e.g., carbonated soft drinks), consumption data at the brand-level could not be considered in the current assessment. In the 2015 CCHS-Nutrition, food code descriptions do not contain brand level information.

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