Monochloropropanediol esters and glycidyl esters in dietary supplements based on fish oils

ABSTRACT

Dietary supplements based on fish oils might be contaminated with thermal processing contaminants, which are generated during the fish oil deodorisation. In the study, 30 samples of dietary supplements were analysed in terms of the occurrence of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPDE), 2-monochloropropane-1,3-diol esters (2-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE). The results showed that the highest levels of 3-MCPDE (mean: 1461 µg kg⁻¹) as well as 2-MCPDE (mean: 357 µg kg⁻¹) were observed in the products containing shark liver oil. In the case of GE, they were mainly detected in the supplements including shark liver and cod liver oils. Although the results indicated that the consumption of the investigated supplements constituted no more than 1% of tolerable daily intake (TDI), the occurrence of MCPDE and GE in fish oil dietary supplements with a special attention to the origin of ester precursors should be thoroughly investigated in further studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Dietary supplements
• fish oils
• monochloropropanediol esters
• glycidyl esters

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of Interest: Anna Sadowska-Rociek declares that she has no conflict of interest.

This article does not contain any studies with human participants and animals.

Additional information

Funding

This research was performed with the financial support from Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Republic of Poland within the statutory R & D activities [SUB/2019-072-D718].