p‐Cymene, a natural antioxidant, in Canadian total diet foods: occurrence and dietary exposures

BACKGROUND There is a lack of information on the presence of volatile organic compounds including p‐cymene in foods for dietary exposure assessment. p‐Cymene is a monoterpene found in many plant species, which has been used as a flavouring agent in foods and also exhibits antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. While the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has no safety concerns at current levels of intake when used as a flavouring, the current study examines p‐cymene levels in foods in general, not just from possible uses as a flavouring, as there could still be a potential health concern if there were high levels of exposure. RESULTS 159 food composite samples from the 2014 Canadian Total Diet Study were analysed for p‐cymene using a gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric method after headspace solid‐phase microextraction. Concentrations of p‐cymene in the composite samples of most food types were generally low, with a maximum level of 73.5 μg g−1, detected in the composite sample of herbs and spices. Dietary exposures to p‐cymene were estimated for different age groups of Canadian populations. CONCLUSIONS Although p‐cymene was detected in various foods, estimated dietary exposures to p‐cymene for different age groups are well below the human intake threshold of toxicological concern established by JECFA of 1800 μg per person per day for structural class I flavours, which includes p‐cymene. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry