efsa-opinion-chromium-food-drinking-water

4.2.4. Occurrence data by food category and by type of drinking water
Chromium in food and drinking water
The left-censored data were treated by the substitution method as recommended in the ‘Principles and
Methods for the Risk Assessment of Chemicals in Food’ (WHO/IPCS, 2009b). The same method is
indicated in the EFSA scientific report ‘Management of left-censored data in dietary exposure
assessment of chemical substances’ (EFSA, 2010d) as an option in the treatment of left-censored data.
The guidance suggests that the LB and UB approach should be used for chemicals likely to be present
in the food (e.g. naturally occurring contaminants, nutrients and mycotoxins). At the LB, results below
the LOQ and LOD were replaced by zero; at the UB the results below the LOD were replaced by the
LOD and those below the LOQ were replaced by the value reported as LOQ.
4.2.4.1. Occurrence data in food (excluding drinking water)
As explained in Section 4.2.2.1, the reported occurrence data on food was considered as Cr(III). For
those foods prepared with water before their consumption (coffee, tea infusions, and dry infant and
follow-on food), the occurrence values provided for the dry foods were used either as such or with
dilution factors (later described in Section 6.1) depending on how the consumption data were reported.
Occurrence values provided for their corresponding prepared foods (e.g. twenty samples of tea
beverage) were excluded.
Table 6 shows the summary statistics of chromium concentrations in the final dataset of food samples
aggregated at FoodEx Level 1. Despite the important number of left-censored data present, no big
differences are observed between LB and UB values in most of the food categories. A plausible
explanation is that in general sensitive methods were used, and where high LOQs were reported they
were linked to quantified samples, therefore, without relevance on the UB. In addition, by applying
the LOQ cut-offs described in Section 4.2.2.1, the differences between LB and UB were reduced in
several food groups, such as ‘Beer and beer-like beverage’ or ‘Cereal-based food for infants and
young children’.
At FoodEx level 1 all the food groups were well represented, with a maximum of 4 647 samples in the
food group ‘Vegetables and vegetable products (including fungi)’ and a minimum of 80 samples in the
food group ‘Eggs and egg products’. Regarding the occurrence values, five food groups at FoodEx
Level 1 showed the highest occurrence values: ‘Products for special nutritional use’, ‘Herbs, spices
and condiments’, ‘Sugar and confectionery’, ‘Vegetables and vegetable products (including fungi)’,
and ‘Animal and vegetable fats and oils’ (see Table 6). In all cases, a detailed evaluation of the
occurrence data at different FoodEx levels was indispensable prior to their use to estimate the dietary
exposure to chromium.
The highest occurrence was reported in the food group ‘Products for special nutritional use’. In this
food group, where Cr(III) is in some cases intentionally added, were reported average values of
12 129 g/kg (n =2 131 LB = UB). A great heterogeneity of occurrence values was observed for the
different food subgroups at lower FoodEx levels. Some of the highest values were reported for the
food subgroup ‘Combination of vitamins and minerals supplements’ with a LB = 23 441 g/kg and
UB = 23 514 g/kg (n = 582).
The group ‘Herbs, spices and condiments’ was reported on 611 occasions, with mean concentrations
of 1627 g/kg and 1665 g/kg at the LB and UB, respectively. The high concentration reported in this
food group is clearly driven by the presence of four samples of ‘Cinnamon (Cinnamonum verum syn.
C. zeylanicum)’, all quantified and with an average value of 84 250 g/kg. High levels of chromium in
cinnamon have been described in the literature (Gul and Safdar, 2009). Other spices are also reported
to contain high concentrations of chromium, such as ‘Paprika powder’ (LB = 3200 g/kg and
UB = 3271 g/kg, n = 71) and ‘Pepper, black and white (Piper nigrum)’ (LB = 2609 g/kg and
UB = 2611 g/kg, n = 105). High concentrations of chromium in spices and aromatic herbs have been
reported by different authors (García et al., 2000; Divrikli et al., 2006; Kovacs et al., 2007; Sykula-
Zajac and Pawlak, 2012).
A total of 1 126 samples were reported for the food group ‘Sugar and confectionery’. Mean
occurrence values were 625 g/kg and 639 g/kg at the LB and UB, respectively (Table 6). As
EFSA Journal 2014;12(3):3595 43