Brussels, 05/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), it is unlikely that synthetic zeaxanthin - a novel food ingredient in food supplements - is dangerous for human health if taken in small doses. This was affirmed by EFSA in a complementary scientific opinion published on 4 October on the pigment's safety.
EFSA, which was invited by the European Commission to update its opinion of 24 April 2008 which states that there were not sufficient scientific elements to allow a safe daily intake to be determined, has in the meanwhile been able to examine two toxicity studies on rats and some 20 scientific reference works provided by the applicant company under the “novel food” regulation.
On that basis, the EFSA scientific panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies (NDA) concluded that - although there are data on the impact that synthetic zeaxanthin has on lung cancer in humans - the currently available data point to the fact that a daily intake of 0.75 mg/kg which corresponds to a daily intake of 53 mg for a person with a body weight of 70 kg, do not raise safety concerns. The applicant company proposed a maximum daily intake of 20 mg/person. (AN/transl.jl)