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.