Safety evaluation of certain food additives - ipcs inchem

460 ALKOXY-SUBSTITUTED ALLYLBENZENES
APPENDIX 1. ALKOXY-SUBSTITUTED ALLYLBENZENES
IN HERBS AND SPICES
Explanation of Appendix 1
The tables in Appendix 1 for estragole, methyl eugenol, safrole, myristicin,
elemicin and apiole provide data on the content of each of these alkoxy-substituted
allylbenzenes within spices, herbs and spice and herb oils. Each table is organized
into sections, as described below.
Section 1 provides a list of the spices and herbs for which data were
compiled.
Section 2 provides the lower limit, upper limit and mean value for the volatile
oil content within each spice and herb. Data for this were collected from a variety of
sources, including internal industry data and published reports regarding essential
oil content in a variety of herbs and spices.
Section 3 provides the mean, the number of data points, and the lower and
upper limits for the content of the alkoxy-substituted allylbenzene within the volatile
oil. Data for this were also collected from a variety of sources, including internal
industry data and published reports regarding essential oil compositions.
Section 4 provides the lower limit, upper limit and mean values for the
content of each alkoxy-substituted allylbenzene within each herb/spice product.
Each value in this section was calculated by multiplying the volatile oil content (within
the herb/spice product) by the alkoxy-substituted allylbenzene content (within the
volatile oil). For instance, to calculate the lower limit for the estragole content within
basil, the lower limit for volatile oil content in basil (0.08%) is multiplied by the
estragole content within the basil volatile oil (0.01%), resulting in a lower limit for
estragole content of 0.08 mg/kg.
Section 5 provides information concerning the amount of the alkoxysubstituted
allylbenzene present in each herb- or spice-derived essential oil product
that has been used as a flavouring. The first column in this section provides data
for herb- and spice-derived essential oil poundage that were collected by the Flavor
and Extract Manufacturers Association in their most recent (2005) poundage survey
(Gavin et al., 2007). Based on this reported essential oil poundage, the next three
columns provide the lower limit, upper limit and mean value for each alkoxysubstituted
allylbenzene volume that would be present in each herb- and spicederived
essential oil as a flavouring agent. For instance, to calculate the upper limit
for the estragole content (in kg) within the total amount of basil oil that was reported
as being used as a flavouring agent, the upper limit for estragole content in basil oil
(91.52%) is multiplied by the volume of basil oil used as a flavouring agent (828 kg).
This calculation results in an estragole volume of 757.8 kg arising from its presence
within basil oil used as a flavouring agent.
Section 6 provides information concerning the amount of the alkoxysubstituted
allylbenzene present in each herb or spice product that was imported
into the USA in the 2007 calendar year. The first column in this section provides
data for herbs and spices that were collected by the United States Department of