Abstract
The contemporary safety evaluation procedure for flavoring substances adopted in Japan requires test data of repeated dose toxicity and genotoxicity for each substance in principle. In contrast, JECFA has been effectively conducting safety evaluation even though the substances themselves do not have a large amount of data. Further data request are made after consideration of the available data for other substances that have similar structures/metabolic pathways in their procedure. The Food Safety Commission has completed safety evaluations for 50 flavoring substances and their results are consistent with those done by JECFA. Further, most countries other than Japan, such as the US, EU, Australia, China, and South Korea, accept the JECFA procedure/its outcome in principle, and there has never been reported safety concerns regarding flavoring substances in their use as flavorings to foods in such countries. Based on this evidence, JFFMA (Japanese Flavor & Fragrance Materials' Association) considers that there should be no concern with the introduction of JECFA procedure as the safety evaluation method for new flavoring substances' designation in Japan and further believes that it is the most appropriate method for global harmonizaton. In this article, the current position taken by FSC is explained, and the outcomes are compared with JECFA evaluation results for the same substances and their consistencies are confirmed.
