Formaldehyde in cultivated mushrooms: a negligible risk for the consumer

Wendie Liliane Claeys (1) , Christiane Vleminckx (2) , Alain Dubois (3) , André Huyghebaert (4) , Monica Höfte (4) , Paul Daenens (5) , Bruno Schiffers (6)

1 Policy Control
2 WIV-ISP - Institut Scientifique de Santé Publique [Belgique] - Scientific Institute of Public Health [Belgium]
3 Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain
4 UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University
5 Catholic University Leuven
6 Gembloux Agricultural University

Following the detection of formaldehyde in cultivated mushrooms, it was evaluated whether its presence in food poses a risk to public health. Formaldehyde, a carcinogenic chemical, has a broad range of industrial applications and hence, exposure to formaldehyde is ubiquitously through diverse consumer goods, food, the air, etc. The observed levels of formaldehyde in mushrooms are lower than the levels that are reported for vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and dairy products. On the basis of available data, a rough estimate of the dietary exposure to formaldehyde was performed. The exposure through the consumption of cultivated mushrooms (~ 0.19 µg/kg bw per day on average, consumers only) appeared to be small compared to the total dietary intake of formaldehyde (~ 99.0 µg/kg bw per day, total population). Based on comparison with toxicological safety limits for chronic exposure and given that formaldehyde is carcinogenic only through inhalation and not by ingestion, it can be alleged that the dietary exposure to formaldehyde does not present cause for concern.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Wendie Liliane Claeys, Christiane Vleminckx, Alain Dubois, André Huyghebaert, Monica Höfte, et al.. Formaldehyde in cultivated mushrooms: a negligible risk for the consumer. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2009, 26 (09), pp.1265-1272. ⟨10.1080/02652030903081929⟩. ⟨hal-00573893⟩