FDA to Present 4-MEI Survey Findings at ACS National Meeting

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) representatives are slated to present
findings of the agency’s analysis of more than 200 foods containing Class III
and Class IV caramels for 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI), a chemical byproduct
of manufacturing processes, during the American Chemical Society National
Meeting & Exposition, August 10-14, 2014, in San Francisco, California.

According to the session abstract, FDA’s analysis estimated dietary exposure
to 4-MEI for six U.S. populations: infants younger than age 1; 1-year-olds;
children ages 2 and older; children ages 2 to 5; children ages 6 to 12; and
teenage boys ages 12 to 18.

Consumer Reports has urged the agency to set standards for 4-MEI in foods
and called on manufacturers to disclose the types of caramel color in their
products so that consumers can avoid 4-MEI. The compound was added
to California’s Proposition 65 list of substances known to the state to cause
cancer in 2011 based on National Toxicology Program studies that reportedly
concluded that long-term exposure to 4-MEI increased the incidence of lung
tumors in mice.

Issue 529