Safety of emulsifiers in fats and oils

Consumers have come to expect many foods that can be served with minimum effort. Such convenience foods frequently require the use of emulsifiers in their formulations. Emulsifiers enable fatty and aqueous phases to be combined. Various emulsifiers have been developed to meet specific needs and have been judged adequately safe for their intended uses. Safety evaluation programs may include both feeding studies and metabolic studies. Feeding studies establish the levels at which a compound can be fed to experimental animals with no detectable ill effects. From this information, it is possible to estimate quantities that may be consumed safely by humans. Metabolic studies tell how a compound is handled by the body—whether it is burned for energy, stored, or excreted. The choice of studies to use in evaluating a specific compound depends upon the chemical nature of the compound, its similarity to familiar materials, and its intended use. Studies carried out with polysorbates and with monoglycerides are reviewed to illustrate these points and to show how safety testing programs yield the information needed for making sound safety judgments.