| Titre : | Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food chain on a request from the European Commission to perform a scientific risk assessment on nitrate in vegetables. |
| Auteurs : | Jan ALEXANDER ; Diane BENFORD ; Andrew CICKBURN ; et al. |
| Type de document : | Rapport |
| Editeur : | European Food Safety Authority. EFSA. Parme., 04/2008 |
| Description : | 79 p. / pdf, fig., tabl. |
| Langues: | Anglais |
| Mots-clés : | Nitrate ; Légume ; Mesure risque ; Dose admissible ; Alimentation ; Consommation alimentaire ; Contamination aliment ; Santé environnementale ; Cancer ; Carcinogène ; Exposition |
| Résumé : | Nitrate is a naturally occurring compound that is part of the nitrogen cycle, as well as an approved food additive. It plays an important role in the nutrition and function of plants. Nitrate is an important component of vegetables due to its potential for accumulation; this can be affected by a number of biotic and abiotic factors. Higher levels of nitrate tend to be found in leaves whereas lower levels occur in seeds or tubers. Thus leaf crops such as lettuce and spinach generally have higher nitrate concentrations. Human exposure to nitrate is mainly exogenous through the consumption of vegetables, and to a lesser extent water and other foods. Nitrate is also formed endogenously. In contrast exposure to its metabolite nitrite is mainly from endogenous nitrate conversion. Epidemiological studies do not suggest that nitrate intake from diet or drinking water is associated with increased cancer risk. Evidence that high intake of nitrite might be associated with increased cancer risk is equivocal. The Panel compared the risk and benefits of exposure to nitrate from vegetables. Overall, the estimated exposures to nitrate from vegetables are unlikely to result in appreciable health risks, therefore the recognised beneficial effects of consumption of vegetables prevail. The Panel recognised that there are occasional circumstances e.g. unfavourable local/home production conditions for vegetables which constitute a large part of the diet, or individuals with a diet high in vegetables such as rucola which need to be assessed on a case by case basis. |
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