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Estimates of Ethanol Exposure in Children from Food not Labeled as Alcohol-Containing
Eva Gorgus1, Maike Hittinger1, Dieter Schrenk2
1Food Chemistry and Toxicology, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Insights
Ethanol is present in many foods and beverages, including juices and baked goods. Children
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Toxicology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Ethanol (alcohol) is a common ingredient in herbal medicines, fermented foods, and even non-fermented products like fruit juices.
- Concerns exist regarding potential adverse effects of low-level ethanol exposure on children's psychomotor functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify ethanol levels in various food products available on the German market.
- To estimate children's daily ethanol exposure from dietary sources.
- To compare dietary ethanol exposure with levels found in herbal medicines for children.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of ethanol content in selected fruit juices and bakery products.
- Development of an exposure scenario for a 6-year-old child using consumption data from US and German surveys.
- Calculation of average and high (acute) daily ethanol intake per kilogram of body weight.
Main Results:
- Significant ethanol levels detected in orange, apple, and grape juices (up to 0.77 g/L).
- Elevated ethanol content found in packed bakery products like burger rolls and sweet milk rolls (over 1.2 g/100 g).
- Estimated average daily ethanol exposure for a child: 10.3 mg/kg body weight.
- High consumption scenarios resulted in exposure of 12.5–23.3 mg/kg body weight.
- Dietary ethanol exposure can be 2- to 4-fold higher than levels in some children's herbal medicines that warrant warning labels.
Conclusions:
- Common food items like fruit juices and bakery products contribute significantly to children's dietary ethanol intake.
- Estimated ethanol exposure from food can exceed levels considered cautionary for herbal medicines intended for children.
- Further research is warranted on the implications of dietary ethanol exposure on child development and health.
Abstract:
Ethanol is widely used in herbal medicines, e.g., for children. Furthermore, alcohol is a constituent of fermented food such as bread or yogurt and "non-fermented" food such as fruit juices. At the same time, exposure to very low levels of ethanol in children is discussed as possibly having adverse effects on psychomotoric functions. Here, we have analyzed alcohol levels in different food products from the German market. It was found that orange, apple and grape juice contain substantial amounts of ethanol (up to 0.77 g/L). Furthermore, certain packed bakery products such as burger rolls or sweet milk rolls contained more than 1.2 g ethanol/100 g. We designed a scenario for average ethanol exposure by a 6-year-old child. Consumption data for the "categories" bananas, bread and bakery products and apple juice were derived from US and German surveys. An average daily exposure of 10.3 mg ethanol/kg body weight (b.w.) was estimated. If a high (acute) consumption level was assumed for one of the "categories," exposure rose to 12.5-23.3 mg/kg b.w. This amount is almost 2-fold (average) or up to 4-fold (high) higher than the lowest exposure from herbal medicines (6 mg/kg b.w.) suggested to require warning hints for the use in children.
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