Food is for survival, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t have flavor.
To butcher an old phrase, flavor is the spice of life. Without flavor, our taste buds go numb and eating is not a pleasure for many of us. Sometimes, however, flavors can be enhanced beyond what is produced naturally by the combination of ingredients, and many of these enhancers are chemical-based. It turns out that, when something is not natural and is ingested, it presents a risk to the body that ingests.
That is the case with a couple of key flavoring chemicals used commonly in food processing, and NIOSH has recently posted some recommended limits regarding exposure to food-flavoring chemicals diacetyl and 2, 3-pentanedione.
Each of these chemical compounds have been reportedly linked to lowered lung function among food workrs who are exposed to these chemicals.
NIOSH posted its new recommendations based on a time-weighted average, or TWA, of exposure over a given timeframe. The limits come in two forms – one for those workers who are exposed for most or all of a workshift, and those who are only exposed for a few minutes at a time and not on a regular basis.
For diacetyl, someone who is regularly and extensively exposed should be limited to a TWA of about 5 parts per billion (ppb) for up to eight hours per day and a 40 hour work week. For a one-off exposure, workers are limited to 25 ppb in a 15-minute period.
For the compound known as 2, 3-pentanedione, a full-shift exposure should be a TWA of less than 9.3 ppb for an eight-hour shift and a 40-hour week; and a single exposure should be limited to less than 31 ppb over 15 minutes.
The full NIOSH criteria document can be found here, and resources and topic materials about food flavorings and lung disease can be found at this link.