Is furan in baby foods of special concern?
No. These data are exploratory and provide only a very limited and incomplete picture of the levels of furan in foods. These data alone do not indicate exposure or risk. FDA’s preliminary estimate of consumer exposure is well below what FDA expects would cause harmful effects. FDA has no evidence that consumers should alter their infants’ and children’s diets and eating habits to avoid exposure to furan. • How did FDA make these findings? In the course of investigations to confirm the accuracy of a report that furan may be formed in food under certain circumstances, FDA scientists discovered that a wider variety of foods that were heat treated than previously thought contained varying levels of furan. • Why is furan a concern? Furan is listed in the Department of Health and Human Services list of carcinogens, and considered as possibly carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, based on studies in laboratory animals at high exposures. The concern is whether furan
