2008, Volume XII, Issue 1

News From International Agencies

The June JEFCA opinion on OTA recommended retaining the current provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for ochratoxin A (i.e., 100 ng/kg bodyweight). The opinion noted that current estimates of 8–17 ng/kg bw per week from processed cereals and 25 ng/kg bw per week
from raw cereals fall well below the current JECFA recommended PTWI for ochratoxin A. Furthermore, most samples showed contamination levels below5 μg/kg. In conclusion,J EFCAs tressed that OTA levels between 5μg/kg and 20 μg/kg would not raise the total dietary exposure for
Europeans, but that additional data were needed to assess the impact of higher limits on people in developing nations. The report of the 68th JECFA meeting is available on the following website:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/jecfa_new_en.asp

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