Assessment of dietary exposure to flavouring substances via consumption of flavoured teas. Part 1: occurrence and contents of monoterpenes in Earl Grey teas marketed in the European Union.

Estimations of dietary exposure via the consumption of flavoured foods play a central role in the safety evaluation of flavouring substances. To assess uncertainties, actual data regarding the occurrence and concentration levels of flavouring substances were determined in commercially available flavoured foods, using Earl Grey tea as an example. The contents of the consistently occurring monoterpenes linalyl acetate, linalool, limonene, β-pinene and γ-terpinene were determined in 90 tea samples purchased in 10 European Union member states. Rather narrow frequency distributions were observed for the major compounds linalyl acetate and linalool. The factors (1) country of purchase, (2) source of the products (national/international brands versus private label brands versus speciality tea shops), and (3) enantiomeric purities of the flavouring substances had no significant impact on the contents of the flavouring substances. Only in teas sold as loose leaves were the median contents of linalyl acetate and linalool (66% and 39%, respectively) higher than in teas offered in tea bags. Significant losses of flavouring substances were observed on storage of teas, indicating an impact of the type of packaging and the flavouring technology on the contents of flavouring substances in the product finally consumed.