Contaminants: a dark side of food supplements?

Abstract

Food supplements (FS) are often consumed as one of the strategies to fight ageing-associated pathologies, especially in the case of oxidative stress-related diseases. Despite the popularity of FS, some concerns about their quality and safety have been raised, especially regarding the presence of contaminants. This paper reviews and discusses the occurrence of contaminants in marketed samples of FS in the last two decades, considering both scientific literature and notifications registered on RASFF portal. The most relevant classes of contaminants were included namely metals, toxins, pesticides, dioxins and PCBs, as well as pharmacologically active ingredients. Variable amounts of contaminants were reported in a significant number of commercially available FS. Although the presence of contaminants does not necessarily mean that their levels exceed the regulatory limits or that the FS intake constitutes a risk to human health, it alerts for the need to further monitor FS safety. The evaluation of the risk associated to the consumption of FS, especially in the elderly population, is particularly challenging due to the frequent exposure to multiple toxicants and to different exposure sources, as well as due to possible pre-existing diseases and respective therapeutics. Therefore, improved quality control procedures and monitoring programs should be pursued in order to avoid undesirable products and assure the safety of FS.

Detection of Cyclic Imine Toxins in Dietary Supplements of Green Lipped Mussels (Perna canaliculus) and in Shellfish Mytilus chilensis

“…This dietary food supplement is marketed globally, easily available and announced as beneficial for health. Nevertheless, dietary products could also lead to potential toxic risks related to the contamination by toxins [ 51 ]. This is the first report of an emerging marine CI toxin found in mussel-based supplements.…”

“…This is the first report of an emerging marine CI toxin found in mussel-based supplements. However, a variety of other toxic substances has been recorded in marketed samples of food supplements considering both scientific literature and Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed notifications [ 51 ]. These contaminants include metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mycotoxins, and cyanotoxins [ 51 ].…”

Quality of Dietary Supplements Containing Plant-Derived Ingredients Reconsidered by Microbiological Approach

“…The reports on the presence of mycotoxins in dietary supplements differ by the percentage of contaminated samples, and the revealed level. Mycotoxins are found in preparations based on different medicinal plants [ 49 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ] ( Table 2 ).…”

Metabo-tip: a Metabolomics Platform for Lifestyle Monitoring

“…The investigation of metabolic response to environmental exposures is an emerging eld of research in toxicology [22,23]. The so-called exposome includes not only exogenous exposure to the environment, diet or lifestyle factors but also to biological processes re ecting internal responses to exposure [24][25][26].…”