Consumer safety of feed additives containing selenium.

Area of Science:

• Food Safety
• Animal Nutrition
• Toxicology

Background:

• The European Commission requested an opinion on consumer safety regarding animal products from animals fed diets supplemented with selenium.
• Selenium is an active substance in feed additives, necessitating a safety evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the safety for consumers of animal products derived from animals fed diets containing selenium feed additives.
• To evaluate the impact of organic selenium supplementation levels on consumer safety.

Main Methods:

• Review of available data on selenium deposition in animal tissues and products.
• Assessment of supplemented selenium levels against established tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for various population groups.

Main Results:

• The use of organic selenium at the maximum authorized level (0.2 mg/kg complete feed) exceeds the UL for most population categories, indicating a consumer safety concern.
• Insufficient data prevented a conclusion on the safety of the maximum total selenium level (0.5 mg/kg complete feed) for all consumer groups.

Conclusions:

• Current organic selenium supplementation levels in animal feed raise concerns for consumer safety due to potential UL exceedance.
• Further research is required, specifically studies measuring selenium deposition in animal products from different selenium sources, to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment.