On average, a French adult consumes up to 10 kilograms of food additives per year

A group of French researches estimated the usual intake of food additives by French adults and identified and described profiles of exposure (single substances and mixtures).    

The study included 106 489 individuals from the NutriNet-Santé cohort study in France (2009-ongoing). Using 24-hour dietary records that included information on commercial product brands, the intake of 90 common food additives was analyzed. Ingestible dosages were calculated quantitatively using a combination of laboratory experiments on food matrixes (total of 2 677 laboratory analysis) and taking into account data from EFSA and JECFA. Each day's exposure was measured in milligrams per kilogram of body weight. By integrating the participants' food consumption, product brand features, and the levels of additives detected in each item, the average daily dose of food additives was calculated. The results showed that more than 10% of the participants was exposed to 48 additives, with modified starches and citric acid consumed by more than 90% of the participants. Furthermore, according to the study, an adult weighing 72.4 kg consumes 11.3 grams of additives every day, or 4 kg per year. This data could pose a concern, given that some food additives, including titanium dioxide, have been related to detrimental health effects in recent EFSA experimental study.    

Furthermore, EFSA has not yet studied food additive mixes, despite the fact that, according to the French report, 50% of foods on the market include at least one food additive, with 11.3 percent including more than five. As a result, typical consumers may be exposed to many food additives at once. The majority of additives have no negative health effects, however some alarming findings have emerged from animal and/or cell-based experimental research on a number of additives. Carcinogenic, inflammatory, and/or oxidative stress effects have previously been associated to nitrates/nitrites, carrageenans, glutamate, bixin, artificial sweeteners, phosphates, emulsifiers, caramel, tartrazine, and butylated hydroxyanisole/butylated hydroxytoluene.    

 

Source:  

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-98496-6