Within the context of the safety assessment of “social
chemicals” such as drugs, agrochemicals, major
food additives and environmental chemicals, food
flavors have conventionally been perceived to be of
relatively low priority. The reasons for this are fairly
obvious: many are of natural origin and have been
consumed as components of the diet for innumerable
generations; exposure levels are generally low and,
in the vast majority of cases, self-limiting; most belong
to well-defined chemical classes the structuresof which are consistent with low levels of concern.
However, this perception has undergone considerable
change in recent years with the growing aspiration
to achieve a “globally recognized list of flavors” and
the necessity to achieve some degree of consensus as
to the procedures to be used for their safety evaluation.
The purpose of this workshop is to focus on the
newer concepts and strategies applicable to the safety
evaluation process and to evaluate these as part of
a process to seek harmonization of approach and to
ensure that up-to-date science-based procedures are
incorporated in evaluation programs.