The European Commission (EC) recently made changes to the maximum levels of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in food with Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1022, amending Regulation (EU) 2023/915.
In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted a scientific opinion on the risks to human and animal health related to the presence of DON and its acetylated and modified forms in food and feed. EFSA concluded that the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 1 microgram per kilogram of body weight (μg/kg bw) per day for DON, was to be considered as a group-TDI for the sum of DON, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-Ac-DON), 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-Ac-DON), and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON-3-glucoside). In order to assess acute human health risk, a group acute reference dose (ARfD) of 8 μg/kg bw per eating occasion was calculated. Estimates of acute dietary exposures were below this dose and did not raise a health concern in humans. However, the estimated mean chronic dietary exposures were above the group-TDI in infants, toddlers and other children, and at high exposures also in adolescents and adults, indicating a potential health concern.