# Presentation: 489078

## An Exposure Assessment for Furan from the Consumption of Adult and Baby Foods

- Michael DiNovi, Ph.D. and Jeremy Mihalov, M.S.
- Food Advisory Committee
- June 8, 2004

## Exposure Model

- The total exposure to furan is the sum of the exposures from each food over all foods containing furan.
- Exposure from each food is the product of the intake of that food and the concentration of furan in that food.
- Adult foods, baby foods and infant formula considered separately

## Sources of Data

- Food Intakes are derived from the 1994-6,8 USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII)
- 2-Day survey of >5000 individuals/year
- Furan concentrations from FDA Laboratory as published (28 April 2004) on CFSAN website

## Foods Containing Furan

- Infant Foods
- Juices
- Fruit purees
- Vegetables
- Mixed Chicken Meals
- Infant Formula

## Foods Containing Furan (con’t)

- Adult Foods
- Brewed Coffee
- Instant Coffee
- Broths
- Soups containing meat
- Spaghetti Sauces
- Chili
- Pasta
- Ravioli
- Juices
- Pork and beans
- Canned string beans
- Canned tuna
- Canned corn

## Furan Levels

- Little variability within tested food types
- Ranges from <LOD to 125 g /kg
- Infant foods
- Sweet potatoes and garden vegetables highest
- Juices uniformly low, <10 g /kg
- Fruits and mixed meals, <30 g /kg
- Other vegetables, 30-60 g /kg
- Formula, 50%  <LOD, 7 g /kg (mean)

## Furan Levels (cont’d) 

- Adult Foods
- Coffee, <LOD - 80 g /kg, greatest variability
- Juices, tuna, broths, sauces, uniformly low,  <15 g /kg
-  soup containing meat, pork and beans, 50 – 125 g /kg
- Chili, beef ravioli, spaghetti dishes, 30-100 g /kg

## Assumptions

- Conservative, typical for Agency assessments
- The concentration of furan in all furan-containing foods is the mean for the specific food type (chronic exposure to varying levels).
- All foods in a food type that has been shown to contain furan do contain furan, i.e., all chili whether canned or not (consumer preference for specific form or brand).
- 2-day intake data reflect lifetime usual intake

## Furan Exposure

- Based on April 28th concentration data
- Adults Foods (2+ year olds)
- Mean 		0.3 g/kg-bw/day
- 90th percentile	0.6 g/kg-bw/day
- Infant foods (0-1 year olds)
- Mean		0.4 g/kg-bw/day
- 90th percentile	1.0 g/kg-bw/day

## Exposure from Adult Food Types

| Brewed coffee | 0.15  μg/kg-bw/day |
| --- | --- |
| Instant coffee | 0.001  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Chili | 0.04  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Soups containing meat | 0.01  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Pork and beans | 0.004  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Canned pasta | 0.004  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Canned string beans | 0.004  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Spaghetti sauces | 0.001  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Juices | 0.001  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Canned corn | 0.0003  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Canned tuna (water packed) | 0.00008  μg/kg-bw/day |
| Broths | 0.000006  μg/kg-bw/day |

## Furan Exposure (con’t)

- Infant Formula
- 100-120 Kcal/kg-bw/day needed for growth
- Formula contains 0.8 Kcal/g
- Mean furan concentration of 7 g /kg
- Exposure
- 0.9 g/kg-bw/day

## Conclusions

- Variability of furan levels within a food type is small; additional measurements will not affect exposure greatly.
- Number of food types tested is limited; additional measurements in new food types will affect overall exposure and help define variability while reducing uncertainty.