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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Taste test: children rate flavoring agents used with activated charcoal.

OBJECTIVE: To compare flavoring agents added to activated charcoal (AC) to determine which mixture is most palatable to children. DESIGN: Healthy volunteers between the ages of 3 and 17 years participated in a prospective masked trial. Five identical pitchers were prepared containing AC alone, AC with chocolate milk, AC with Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola Corp, Atlanta, Ga), AC with cherry-flavored syrup, and AC with sorbitol. Subjects tasted all 5 substances in random order. Children younger than 8 years rated taste on a 10-point Faces Scale. Children 8 years and older used a 100-point visual analog scale to rate taste and, separately, ease of swallowing. All children were asked which mixture was best. Ratings were compared using 1-way analysis of variance, and comparisons for all pairs were made using the Tukey test. P<.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Mean age among the 53 children enrolled was 8.3 years; 23 children were younger than 8 years. Girls made up 52% of the group. Taste scores for chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly better than those for no flavoring agent. The scores for ease of swallowing for Coca-Cola, chocolate milk, and cherry-flavored syrup were significantly better than those for either no flavoring agent or sorbitol. When asked to choose a single best flavoring agent, 39% chose chocolate milk, 23% picked Coca-Cola, and 23% chose cherry-flavored syrup. CONCLUSION: The addition of chocolate milk, Coca-Cola, or cherry-flavored syrup to AC improves palatability for children and is favored over no flavoring agent or sorbitol.

Adolescent↗

Genotoxicity of flavoring agents.

The genotoxicity of 9 flavoring agents widely used in everyday foods was studied by a bacterial mutation test in the Salmonella/microsome system and by a chromosome test in Chinese hamster (CH) cells. In the mutation test none of the flavorings exhibited significant induction of his+ revertants in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 or TA100, either with or without rat-liver microsome as the metabolic activation system. On the other hand, in the chromosome test most of the agents induced severe chromosome aberration in the treated CH cells, suggesting a potential genotoxicity.

Animals↗

Transforming potency of flavoring agents in Chinese hamster cells.

To investigate the transforming potency of flavoring agents, Chinese hamster (CH) B241 cells were treated with various concentrations of flavoring agents for 24 hours during their exponential growth period. Surviving cells were cultivated for generations without the agents to observe the appearance of growth properties characteristic of transformed cells. Highly increased rates of structural and numerical chromosome abnormalities were seen in the cells treated with a high concentration of the agents, especially with allylisothiocyanate (AITC) or tr-cinnamic aldehyde (CA). During subsequent passages of the treated cells, the survivors from treatment with sublethal doses of AITC or CA showed a significant increase in cloning efficiency in soft agar medium, especially after passage in soft agar. Also noted was an increase in saturation density in monolayer culture, though a significant increase in plating efficiency at low serum level was not observed. These characteristic changes in AITC- or CA-treated cells were associated with the significant increase in frequencies of cells containing almost 3n to 4n chromosomes.

Animals↗

Is caffeine a flavoring agent in cola soft drinks?

BACKGROUND: Concern has been expressed about the nutrition and health impact of high rates of soft drink consumption. Caffeine is an added ingredient in approximately 70% of soft drinks consumed in the United States. The soft drink manufacturers' justification to regulatory agencies and the public for adding caffeine to soft drinks is that caffeine is a flavoring agent. OBJECTIVE: To examine the claim that caffeine plays an integral role in the flavor profile of soft drinks, by examining the effect of caffeine on the threshold for detection of flavor differences in cola beverages. DESIGN: Double-blind crossover study starting November 1998 and ending July 1999. SETTING: An academic research center. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five adult regular consumers of cola soft drinks. Based on a screening session, all were able to detect a flavor difference between cola containing sugar and diet cola. INTERVENTION: A sensitive version of a forced-choice flavor-detection procedure was used to evaluate the effects of a wide range of caffeine concentrations (range, 0.05-1.6 mg/mL) on the ability to detect flavor differences between caffeinated and caffeine-free cola beverages. Repeated tests permitted determination of significant detection at each concentration in individual subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentage of subjects significantly detecting a flavor difference and mean percentage of trials correct at each caffeine concentration. RESULTS: Detection of flavor differences increased as a function of caffeine concentration. At the 0.1-mg/mL concentration, which is the approximate concentration in the majority of cola soft drink products, 2 subjects (8%) significantly detected a flavor difference and the mean percentage correct (53%) was at chance levels. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that only 8% of a group of regular cola soft drink consumers could detect the effect of the caffeine concentration found in most cola soft drinks is at variance with the claim made by soft drink manufacturers that caffeine is added to soft drinks because it plays an integral role in the flavor profile. It is valuable for the general public, the medical community, and regulatory agencies to recognize that the high rates of consumption of caffeinated soft drinks more likely reflect the mood-altering and physical dependence-producing effects of caffeine as a central nervous system-active drug than its subtle effects as a flavoring agent. Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:727-734

Adult↗

Neoplastic transformation of Chinese hamster cells in vitro after treatment with flavoring agents.

Chinese hamster B241 cells were treated with 5 nM allylisothiocyanate (AI) or 10 nM trans-cinnamaldehyde (CA) and surviving cells were cultivated for generations until the cells acquired the characteristics of transformed cells based on in vitro criteria: increase in (a) saturation density in monolayer culture, (b) plating efficiency at low serum level and (c) colony forming efficiency (CFE) in soft agar medium. When the values of CFE of the treated cells had become significantly high, anchorage-independent colonies were isolated, propagated and then subjected to an assay for neoplastic transformation. The anchorage-independent clonal cells (CH-AI-AG+-1 and CH-CA-AG+-2) were subcutaneously injected into a suprascapular site in nude mice. The mice were maintained in an SPF animal care facility and observed for tumor formation. Growth of neoplasm at the injection sites was observed in 6 out of 7 mice and in all of the 6 mice injected with CA- and AI-transformed cells, respectively, during 3 to 8 months after the injection, as compared with 1 out of 6 mice injected with untreated control cells. Subsequent transplantation of the tumor cells into new mice induced tumor production at the injection site in all the animals within a considerably shorter period of time than that following the initial inoculation. Malignancy of the neoplastic cells was ascertained by histological examination, and the cells were found to have karyotypes of the hamster cells after in vitro cultivation of the tumor cells. These experimental results suggest the transforming potency of the flavoring agents in Chinese hamster cells.

Acrolein↗

Application of halophilic nuclease H of Micrococcus varians subsp. halophilus to commercial production of flavoring agent 5'-GMP.

RNA was degraded at 60 degrees C for 24 h by halophilic nuclease H in supernatants from broth cultures of Micrococcus varians subsp. halophilus containing 12% NaCl. Since contaminating 5'-nucleotidase exhibited almost no activity under these conditions, the 5'-GMP formed could be recovered from the reaction mixture, and the yield was 805 mg from 5 g of RNA.

Exoribonucleases↗

Development and characterization of a flavoring agent from oyster cooker effluent.

The general composition of concentrated oyster cooker effluent (OCE) was 80% moisture, 6.7% total nitrogen, 2.4% glycogen, and 8.5% ash. Optimum conditions for enzymatic hydrolysis of OCE were 50 degrees C, 2 h of reaction time, 0.1% amylase mixture (alpha-amylase plus glucoamylase), and 0.2% protease NP. Hydrolysis of OCE led to an increase in free amino acids, with taurine comprising approximately 20% of the total. Inosine monophosphate was predominant (456 mg/100 g) among nucleotides and related compounds. Enzyme hydrolysis increased extractable nitrogen by approximately 2-fold. Trimethylamine, trimethylamine oxide, and total creatinine levels were not affected by enzyme treatment. Predominant aroma-active components of enzyme-hydrolyzed OCE included 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and 3-(methylthio)propanal. Results of this study may help alleviate the wastewater disposal problem currently caused by OCE.

Animals↗

The flavoring agent dihydrocoumarin reverses epigenetic silencing and inhibits sirtuin deacetylases.

Sirtuins are a family of phylogenetically conserved nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylases that have a firmly established role in aging. Using a simple Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast heterochromatic derepression assay, we tested a number of environmental chemicals to address the possibility that humans are exposed to sirtuin inhibitors. Here we show that dihydrocoumarin (DHC), a compound found in Melilotus officinalis (sweet clover) that is commonly added to food and cosmetics, disrupted heterochromatic silencing and inhibited yeast Sir2p as well as human SIRT1 deacetylase activity. DHC exposure in the human TK6 lymphoblastoid cell line also caused concentration-dependent increases in p53 acetylation and cytotoxicity. Flow cytometric analysis to detect annexin V binding to phosphatidylserine demonstrated that DHC increased apoptosis more than 3-fold over controls. Thus, DHC inhibits both yeast Sir2p and human SIRT1 deacetylases and increases p53 acetylation and apoptosis, a phenotype associated with senescence and aging. These findings demonstrate that humans are potentially exposed to epigenetic toxicants that inhibit sirtuin deacetylases.

Aging↗

1,8-cineol, a food flavoring agent, prevents ethanol-induced gastric injury in rats.

This study investigated the gastroptrotective effect of 1,8-cineole (cineole) on ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage in rats and the possible mechanisms involved. 1,8-Cineole (50-200 mg/kg), given orally 1 hr before administration of 1 ml of absolute ethanol significantly attenuated the ethanol-induced gastric injury in a manner similar to nordihydroguairetic acid, a known lipoxygenase inhibitor. 1,8-Cineole showed a tendency to restore the ethanol-associated decreases in nonprotein sulfhydryls, suggesting a possible antioxidant effect. In gastric secretion studies, 1,8-cineole, similar to cimetidine, a known histamine-2 receptor antagonist, demonstrated significant inhibitions of both gastric juice volume as well as total acid output. The protection offered by 1,8-cineole was found to be unaltered by 8-phenyltheophylline or L-NAME, indicating that its effect is not mediated by endogenous adenosine or nitric oxide. These results, taken together with the earlier reports, suggest that the antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory actions of 1,8-cineole are of prime importance in affording gastroprotection against ethanol injury in the rat.

Administration, Oral↗

Traditional healthy Mediterranean diet: estrogenic activity of plants used as food and flavoring agents.

The Italian-style Mediterranean diet has been defined as healthy by epidemiologists and nutritionists. Besides being low fat, the Mediterranean diet is rich in biologically active minor compounds. Among these, phytoestrogens seem to have an impact on the prevention of chronic degenerative disease. It is important to understand how this occurs. The in vitro estrogenic activity of crude extracts from typical Mediterranean foods was tested using a yeast estrogen screen (YES), containing human estrogen receptor. Species belonging to Leguminosae, Apiaceae, Graminaceae, Iridaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cruciferae and Solanaceae showed the greatest number of positive responses. These species include some foods which are traditionally widely consumed, such as beans and other legumes, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and some cereals. The highest activity was found in the more polar extracts (aqueous, methanol and chloroform: methanol) indicating that polar compounds are mainly responsible for the estrogenic activity. This is also supported by the traditional cooking practices. According to data from in vitro tests, the estrogenic activity is present in numerous plants which are commonly used as food in the Mediterranean diet. Vegetable foods rich in phytoestrogens, as in the Mediterranean tradition, may contribute to the maintenance of health status.

Cooking↗

Induced sputum evaluation in microwave popcorn production workers.

OBJECTIVE: Severe airways obstruction and bronchiolitis obliterans have been reported in microwave popcorn production workers and attributed to inhalation of flavoring agents. We investigated whether exposure to flavoring agents is associated with airways inflammation in popcorn production workers. METHODS: Fifty-nine workers with high exposures and 22 patients with low exposures to flavoring vapors completed a questionnaire, spirometry, and sputum induction. Sputum cell counts were categorized as "high" if greater than (and "low" if less than or equal to) the median cell counts of a healthy external control group (n = 24). We compared high- and low-exposure groups as well as all workers with control subjects. RESULTS: Neutrophil concentrations in nonsmoking workers were significantly higher than those of the healthy nonsmoking control group (p < 0.05). The smoking-adjusted odds ratio for high neutrophil count (> 1.63 x 10(5)/mL) was 3.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 11.5) in the high-exposure group compared with the low-exposure group. Sputum interleukin-8 and eosinophil cationic protein levels were higher in high-exposure workers than in low-exposure workers (p < 0.05). For the worker group, mean values of FEV1 percentage of predicted and FEV1/FVC percentage of predicted were > 95%. There were no relationships between sputum characteristics and the presence of airways obstruction. CONCLUSIONS: High exposure to popcorn flavoring agents is associated with neutrophilic airway inflammation in popcorn production workers. These data provide further evidence that popcorn production workers face a significant occupational hazard through exposure to flavoring agents.

Adult↗