Quantitation of tr-cinnamaldehyde, safrole and myristicin in cola-flavoured soft drinks to improve the assessment of their dietary exposure.

Quantitation of tr-cinnamaldehyde, safrole and myristicin was carried out in 70 samples of cola-flavoured soft drinks purchased in eight European countries with the purpose of assessing the variability in the levels of these substances. Results indicated a limited variability in the content of the three substances: the ratio between the 90th and the 10th percentile concentration amounted to 21, 6 and 13 for tr-cinnamaldehyde, safrole and myristicin, respectively. The uncertainty in the assessment of dietary exposure to these substances due to the variability of their level in cola-flavoured drinks was low. Based on these analytical data and on refined food consumption data, estimates of exposure to safrole associated to cola drink consumption, along with Margin of Exposure (MOE) values, were obtained. For high consumers of cola-flavoured soft drinks in certain age groups, within some European countries, MOE values lower than 10,000 resulted, MOE values of 10,000 or higher having been stated by the EFSA as a quantitative criterion to identify low concern from a public health point of view and low priority for risk management actions. The lowest MOE values, from 1900 to 3000, were observed for children and teen agers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.