Tiered dietary exposure assessment of steviol glycosides in the Belgian population.

The objective of the present study was to assess the dietary intake of steviol glycosides in the Belgian population and to conduct a risk assessment by comparing the estimated intakes to the acceptable daily intake (ADI). A tiered approach was adopted in this study. First, a Tier 2 assessment was performed using maximum permitted levels. Next, the calculations were refined because market share data were used (refined Tier 2). Finally, the actual concentration data of 198 samples purchased from the Belgian market were used for Tier 3 exposure assessment. Based on a Tier 2 assessment, the ADI was exceeded for the high-consumer children population. However, the results of a more refined exposure assessment (Tier 3) of high consumers (P95) within the child, adolescent and adult populations were 13·75, 10 and 6·25 % of the ADI, respectively, using mean analytical results. Even with more conservative refined approaches, the estimated daily intake remained below 20 % of ADI. Flavoured drinks, flavoured fermented milk products and jams, jellies, and marmalades were the top three contributing food groups to steviol intake at 26–49 %, 12–27 % and 5–13 %, respectively. Despite the high concentrations (up to 94 000 mg/kg) of steviol glycosides in tabletop sweeteners, their contribution to the total intake remains low. The impact of the use of food supplements on the total intake was also considered to be limited. It was concluded that there was no risk for the Belgian population related to dietary exposure to steviol glycoside.