Dataset Information

Chemoinformatic analysis of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) flavor chemicals and natural products.

ABSTRACT: Food materials designated as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) are attracting the attention of researchers in their attempts to systematically identify compounds with putative health-related benefits. In particular, there is currently a great deal of interest in exploring possible secondary benefits of flavor ingredients, such as those relating to health and wellness. One step in this direction is the comprehensive characterization of the chemical structures contained in databases of flavoring substances. Herein, we report a comprehensive analysis of the recently updated FEMA GRAS list of flavoring substances (discrete chemical entities only). Databases of natural products, approved drugs and a large set of commercial molecules were used as references. Remarkably, natural products continue to be an important source of bioactive compounds for drug discovery and nutraceutical purposes. The comparison of five collections of compounds of interest was performed using molecular properties, rings, atom counts and structural fingerprints. It was found that the molecular size of the GRAS flavoring substances is, in general, smaller cf. members of the other databases analyzed. The lipophilicity profile of the GRAS database, a key property to predict human bioavailability, is similar to approved drugs. Several GRAS chemicals overlap to a broad region of the property space occupied by drugs. The GRAS list analyzed in this work has high structural diversity, comparable to approved drugs, natural products and libraries of screening compounds. This study represents one step towards the use of the distinctive features of the flavoring chemicals contained in the GRAS list and natural products to systematically search for compounds with potential health-related benefits.

SUBMITTER: Medina-Franco JL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3511266 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Chemoinformatic analysis of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) flavor chemicals and natural products.

Medina-Franco José L JL Martínez-Mayorga Karina K Peppard Terry L TL Del Rio Alberto A

PloS one 20121130 11

Food materials designated as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) are attracting the attention of researchers in their attempts to systematically identify compounds with putative health-related benefits. In particular, there is currently a great deal of interest in exploring possible secondary benefits of flavor ingredients, such as those relating to health and wellness. One step in this direction is the comprehensive characterization of the chemical structures contained in databases of flavori ...[more]

PMID: 23226386

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Project description:Manufacturers of chemicals added to food are responsible for determining that the use of their products is safe. There are two major legal definitions of chemicals in food: (1) food additives which includes ingredients and chemicals indirectly entering food from packaging and processing equipment, and (2) generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substances mostly used as ingredients. The law requires food additives to undergo approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they are sold, but it GRAS substances are exempted from pre-market approval. In 1997, FDA created a voluntary program for manufacturers to submit their chemical's safety determination in the form of a GRAS notice to the agency. Manufacturers make GRAS determinations regardless of whether they voluntarily submit a notice to FDA for review. They rely on their own employees, the employee of a hired consulting firm or a panel of experts, known as GRAS panel, to review the safety information. Because this process determines whether a chemical is safe for use in food, conflicts of interest and biases need to be avoided or minimized to credibly ensure food is safe. Recently, FDA has published guidance for industry on best practices to convene GRAS panels to manage conflicts of interest and reduce biases that have plagued the process. Here, we perform a qualitative assessment of the compliance of GRAS panels with basic elements of FDA's guidance. We assessed 403 GRAS notices filed by FDA between 2015 and 2020 and identified whether a GRAS panel was convened and by whom, its members, affiliations, and relationships between panelists and panel conveners. Then, we compared FDA's recommendations against the information included in the notices voluntarily submitted by manufacturers. We found no evidence that GRAS panels have adhered to FDA's guidance. Panels are populated from a very small pool of professionals; we found that seven panel members alone occupied almost half of all available panel positions and that they often serve together. Against guidance recommendations, ad-hoc panels have been substituted by panels with recurring members in hired consulting firms' payroll. The widespread persistence of conflicts of interest, appearance of conflict and bias in GRAS determinations continue to put the health of Americans at risk and undermine confidence in the safety of food ingredients in the US market. FDA should require notice for all GRAS determinations including how the financial conflicts of interest of those who make these determinations are minimized.

Dataset Information

Chemoinformatic analysis of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) flavor chemicals and natural products.

Publications

Chemoinformatic analysis of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) flavor chemicals and natural products.

Similar Datasets

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