Introduction:

Food additives (AA) are ingredients that are added to foods to modify their physical and chemical characteristics. Approximately 1,000 AA are used under the "Generally Recognized as Safe" designation without approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. There is evidence that some AA can be potentially toxic to health. The person in charge of regulating AA worldwide is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, through the Codex Alimentarius Commission. However, in Mexico there are no studies on the toxicity of AA in the population, given the impossibility of estimating its consumption taking the "Admissible Daily Intake" as a reference (IDA).

Objective:

Identify the information on the concentration of various AAs on the labels of food products in Mexico.

Methodology:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, packaged or canned foods (AEE) were selected, available in leading self-service store chains in Mexico, in 10 states of the Mexican Republic (Baja California, Campeche, Guadalajara, Mexico, Monterrey, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan). The AEE selection criteria were: a) that they were simultaneously available for sale nationwide in at least two of three self-service stores, b) based on the information available on the nutritional labeling, which mentioned the added AA, commonly used in multiple AEE.

Results:

An average of 900 AEE that did not meet the inclusion criteria were found. More than 120 AEE mention the added AA (>98%), but only 2 AEE mention the concentration (<1.5%).

Conclusions:

The lack of information on the concentration of AA added to AEE does not allow the ADI to be taken as a reference in the intake of AA in the Mexican population.

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