IARC 60th Anniversary - 19-21 May 2026
Session : 21/05/26 - Posters
Food additive mixtures in French children and adults: the nationally representative Esteban study
PAYEN DE LA GARANDERIE M. 1,2,3,4,5, DECHAMP N. 2, VERDOT C. , HASENBÖHLER A. 1,2,3,4,5, YVROUD-HOYOS P. 2, SZABO DE EDELENYI F. 2, BOURHIS L. 2, AGAËSSE C. 2, DE SA A. 2, HUYBRECHTS I. 6, PIERRE F. 3,7, AUDEBERT M. 3,7, COUMOUL X. 3,8, KESSE-GUYOT E. 1,2,3,4,5, ALLÈS B. 1,2,4,5, DESCHASAUX-TANGUY M. 1,2,3,4,5, SROUR B. 1,2,3,4,5, DESCHAMPS V. , TOUVIER M. 1,2,3,4,5
1 INRAE - CR IDF-JOUY-EN-JOSAS - SBFC, JOUY-EN-JOSAS CEDEx, France; 2 EREN, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team, Bobigny, France; 3 Nutrition and Cancer Research Network (NACRe Network, https://www6.inrae.fr/nacre/), Jouy-en-Josas, France; 4 Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, CNAM, Paris, France; 5 Centre for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Paris, France; 6 International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France; 7 Toxalim (Research Centre in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UPS, Toulouse, France; 8 Université Paris Cité, INSERM, Health & Functional Exposomics - HealthFex, Paris, France; 9 Santé Publique France, Nutritional Epidemiology Surveillance Team (ESEN), Bobigny, France
Background
Food additives are substances added to foods during processing to improve shelf life, appearance, taste, or texture and are now ubiquitous in modern diets. Their regulation is largely conducted on a substance-by-substance basis, although toxicological and epidemiological studies have suggested the possibility of cocktail effects arising from the concurrent exposure to multiple additives.
Objectives
This study aimed to identify exposures to food additives and their mixtures in a nationally representative sample of French adults and children.
MethodsUsing repeated 24-hour dietary recalls and food records (including 3 commercial brand information) from the cross-sectional Esteban survey (France, 2016), additive intake was estimated by merging with multiple food composition databases, and laboratory assays in food matrices. Non-negative matrix factorisation was used to identify additive mixtures. Their associations with sociodemographic, lifestyle, and dietary factors were assessed using survey-weighted regressions.
Results
A total of 2,177 adults (18–74 years old) and 1,279 children (6–17 years old) were included. The proportion of daily energy intake from UPFs was 34.2% (SE = 0.003) in adults and 49.3% (SE = 0.003) in children. Mean daily additive intake was 4.42 g/day in adults and 5.08 g/day in children. Sixty additives were consumed by at least 5% of adults, and 71 by children, including several that have been associated with suspected adverse health effects and for which a potential role in cancer aetiology has been suggested by experimental or epidemiological studies (e.g., carrageenan, acesulfame K, aspartame, titanium dioxide). Three main mixtures were identified in adults and four in children, and were correlated with distinct socio-demographic profiles.
Conclusions
/ImplicationsThis first nationally representative assessment of food additive exposure in French children and adults demonstrates that additives are consumed as mixtures. Considering that some of the most commonly consumed additives have been subject to IARC evaluations or scientific debate regarding their potential carcinogenicity, together with emerging evidence on mixture effects and possible synergistic interactions, these findings highlight the importance of addressing combined exposures in future risk assessment and regulatory evaluations.
Fundings
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 864219, ADDITIVES), the French National Cancer Institute (INCa_14059), the French Ministry of Health (arrêté 29.11.19), the IdEx Université de Paris (ANR-18-IDEX-0001), and a Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation Research Prize 2021.