Abstract
Contents of sodium saccharin in 2, 598 foods, BHT in 1, 297 foods and BHA in 1, 415 foods were analyzed for the samples collected at Sendai, Kofu, Osaka, Matsue and Kitakyushu from 1976 to 1980. The average intakes of these additives were calculated with using the results of the “National Nutrition Survey” carried out in 1978 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The average intakes per capita of sodium saccharin, BHT and BHA were respectively 10.4 mg, 0.273 mg, and 0.216 mg. When the analysis of the three additives were conducted in the five cities and Tokyo for one week on meals prepared according to the model menu, the average daily intakes of sodium saccharin, BHT and BHA were 4.8 mg, 0.008 mg and 0.166 mg, respectively. FAO/WHO evaluated the ADI of sodium saccharin as 2.5 mg/kg body weight, BHT as 0.5 mg/kg and BHA as 0.5 mg/kg and, assuming that the average body weight of Japanese adult was 50 kg, it is allowed to accept 125 mg of sodium saccharin, 25 mg of BHT and 25 mg of BHA. Accordingly, it was found that the daily intakes of sodium saccharin, BHT and BHA in Japan corresponded to 3.8-10.0%, 0.03-1.3% and 0.6-2.3% of the each ADI respectively.
