New intake level for aluminium in food

Scientists at the European Expert Committee on Food Additives (EFSA) have assessed the safety of aluminium in food and established a Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) of one milligram of aluminum per kilogram of body weight.

Aluminum is present in a range of everyday foods such as cereals and vegetables.

The EFSA opinion was requested by the European Commission in light of a similar evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in June 2006 which re-evaluated the health effects from aluminum via dietary intake and subsequently lowered the tolerable weekly intake from seven mg/kg body weight to one mg/kg bodyweight.

"It would be undesirable for an individual to regularly exceed the TWI; however, the margin of safety included in the guideline of one mg/kg bodyweight per week is high enough to ensure that occasional exceedance of it does not present an immediate risk to health," said an EFSA spokesperson.

Sources

The AFC said that it evaluated all available studies on the total dietary exposure to aluminium, including some showing adverse effects of aluminium on the nervous and reproductive system in animals.

Infant milk formula study

The AFC opinion highlighted some brands of infant formula may give infants an aluminum intake higher than the safety guideline of one mg/kg bodyweight.

Potential exposure to aluminum in 3-month infants from a variety of infant formulae was estimated by the AFC panel. It said that high exposure averages were up to 0.9 mg/kg bw per week for milk-based formulae and 1.1 mg/kg bw per week for soy-based formulae.

The panel noted that in some individual brands of formula (both milk-based and soy-based) the aluminum concentrations were four times higher than the average concentrations, leading to a four times higher potential exposure in brand-loyal infants.

"This review is timely because it has highlighted the need for better data on the sources and extent of use of aluminium in food, so that exposure can be reduced for those who may be exceeding the TWI," said Dr Sue Barlow, chair of the AFC Panel.

Bonnie - except for infant formulas, the FDA and CDC do not have any limits in food as far as our research could find.

The other 800 pound gorilla in the room? Aluminum is used as a preservative in almost every vaccination and total load far exceeds what the EFSA would consider safe. To make matters worse, the aluminum is injected and does not pass through the gi tract, bypassing the immune system, and making it harder to chelate out of the body. This is a safety concern we have posed for years with no tangible resolution as of yet.