Safety of 31 flavouring compounds belonging to different chemical groups when used as feed additives for all animal species

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety of 31 compounds belonging to different chemical groups, when used as sensory additives in feed for all animal species. Twenty-two out of the 31 compounds were tested in tolerance studies in chickens for fattening, piglets and cattle for fattening. For the remaining nine compounds, read across from structurally similar compounds was proposed. No adverse effects were observed in the tolerance studies at 10-fold the intended level. The FEEDAP Panel concluded that the 22 compounds are safe for these species at the proposed use level and conclusions were extrapolated to all animal species for all the compounds except for α-damascone [07.134]. In the absence of data that would allow the FEEDAP Panel to rule out the genotoxicity concern, the FEEDAP Panel cannot extend the conclusions for α-damascone [07.134] to all animal species and cannot conclude on the safety for the consumer, the user and the environment. No safety concern would arise for the consumer from the use of the remaining 30 compounds up to the highest levels considered safe for target animals. The revised maximum safe levels for the 30 compounds are not expected to further impact on the previous conclusions on user safety. The concentrations considered safe for the target species are unlikely to have detrimental effects on the environment for all the compounds except β-damascone [07.083] and (E)-β-damascone [07.224], for which in the absence of ecotoxicity data, the FEEDAP Panel cannot conclude on the safety for the terrestrial compartments. For the marine environment, the safe use level for 2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-2-ol [02.035], α-irone [07.011], β-damascone [07.083] and (E)-β-damascone [07.224], phenethyl isovalerate [09.466], 4-(p-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one [07.055] and 2-isopropyl-4-methylthiazole [15.026] is confirmed to be 0.05 mg/kg.