EFFECTS OF FEEDING POLYOXYETHYLENE PREPARATIONS TO RATS AND HAMSTERS^a

Abstract

Use of polyoxyethylene preparations in a wide variety of food products has aroused considerable interest in the effects which might follow their ingestion in food. On the basis of an evaluation of 48 published and unpublished reports available to it, the Food Protection Committee ( 4 ) of the National Research Council concluded in 1953 that the data "fail t o demonstrate that polyoxyethylene stearates are safe for use in foods under all patterns of dietary consumption and for all segments of the population. " Other publications have mentioned deleterious effects of polyoxyethylene and sorbitan compounds following oral (13,22,29) and parenteral (3,5,14,15,19,22,23,25,27,28) administration to various experimental animals as well as after in vitro use (1, 10, 12,20,21,23).Recently Krehl, Cowgill, and Whedon (16) reported that polyoxyethylene esters fed to rats and cats for varying periods of time did not have deleterious effects. Graham, Teed, and Grice (7) obtained negative results when they fed polyoxyethylene monostearate to rats in a bread diet for one year. Graham and Brice also reported negative results from feeding polyoxyethylene monostearate in a synthetic diet for 32 weeks (6). The observations reported in the present paper involve the feeding of polyoxyethylene preparationsb for a period of 21 weeks in rats and 39 weeks in hamsters. PROCEDUREFour experiments have been completed to determine the effects of moderate and high levels of several polyoxyethylene compounds in the diet. High levels were used in these experiments in conformity with recommended procedures for evaluation of the safety of chemicals in foods (17, 18). I n the first experiment, weanling male rats (Holtznian Rat Company, Madison, Wisconsin), distributed into 4 groups, were fed for 21 weeks on synthetic diets containing 25% levels of lard; cottonseed oil mono-and diglycerides (CMDG) ' ; polyoxyethylene monostearate (PMS No. 1) d ; or polyoxyethylene sorbitan nionolaurate (PSML)". These diets differed only as to the control or test " D a t a were presented originally in Exhibit 365, Ice Cream Hearings, Docket FDC 34A, 1952. These materials were offered on the open market for use in food products. They were mixtures of many chemical compounds and undoubtedly contained traces of unidentified impuritiex. The heterogeneous composition of polyoxyethylene stearates has been discussed at some length in a report issued by the Food Protection Committee ( 4 ) .A commercial equilibrium mixture of mono., di-, and triglycerides prepared by reacting partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil with glycerine. It will be identified subsequently in this paper by the abbreviaiion CMDC.A partial ester of commercial stearic acid and prefabricated polyethylene glycol, which will be identified subsequently in this paper by the abbreviation PMS No. 1.' A partial ester of commercial lauric acid, sorbitan, and mixed polyoxyethylene diols having a n average chain length corresponding to 20 ethylene oxide units per mol of sorbitan. It will be identified subsequently i ...

Effects of feeding emulsifiers on reproduction of C57BL/6 mice

“…Gas was often present. Enlarged cecae in hamsters were noted by Eagle and Poling (1956). It is possible that this enlargement is in some way related to the adjustment of the animal which enables it to utilize the food containing a Tween compound.…”

“…Krantz and Carr (1961) et al (1950) stated that polyoxyethylene sorbitan mono laurate was toxic to hamsters when fed at 5$ and 15$ of a nutritionally adequate diet. Eagle and Poling (1956) reported adverse effects on hansters fed polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate at a 10$ level. They also reported that it was common for animals on the experimental diet to have small testes and enlarged caeca.…”

“…Eagle and Poling (1956) reported that 38$ of the rats fed diets containing polyoxyethylene sorbitan mono laurate at the 25$ level had small testes.…”

“…They also reported that it was common for animals on the experimental diet to have small testes and enlarged caeca. Poling _et al (1956) raised rats on diets which con tained from 5$ to 25$ Tween 20. In general, the rats fed the experimental diets showed retarded growth, increased mortality and consistent diarrhea.…”

“…Poling et al (1956) reported that rats fed polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate at the 25io level developed several gross pathological changes; and, when fed at the 10% level, most of the male rats showed decreased spermatogenesis. Schweigert et al (1950) fed two polyoxyethylene monosterate compounds to weanling hamsters.…”