An exposure assessment was performed to estimate average daily
benzoic acid intake for Belgian adults. Food consumption data were retrieved from the national food-consumption survey. As a first step, individual food-consumption data were multiplied with the maximum permitted use levels for
benzoic acid per food group (Tier 2). As a second step, a label survey to identify the foods where
benzoic acid is effectively used as an additive and a literature review of the possible occurrence of
benzoic acid as a natural substance were performed. With this information, a refined list of foods was drafted for the quantification of
benzoic acid, which was performed by a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, optimized and validated for this purpose. Individual food-consumption data were then multiplied with the actual average concentrations of
benzoic acid per food group (Tier 3). Usual intakes were calculated using the Nusser method. The mean
benzoic acid intake was 1.58 mg kg(-1)
body weight day(-1) (Tier 2) and 1.25 mg kg(-1)
body weight day(-1) (Tier 3). In Tier 2, men exceeded the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 5 mg kg(-1)
body weight day(-1) at the 99th percentile. The greatest contributors to the
benzoic acid intake were soft drinks.
Benzoic acid as a natural substance represents only a small percentage of the total intake. The results show that actual
benzoic acid intake is very likely to be below the ADI. However, there is a need to collect national food-consumption data for children as they might be more vulnerable to an excessive intake.