The researchers have shown that children’s foods are also among those that contain the highest levels of furan. “For example, orange juice in cartons or bottles contains a lot of furan”, reveals Georges Scholl. Finally, even though small jars of baby food are relatively contaminated, they have limited contribution to the exposure of babies. In fact, infant eating habits are very traditional in Belgium. According to the figures of Kind and Gezin (the equivalent of National Office Child in Flanders), parents  only use in average one jar of baby food  out of  three meals. “Parents who feed their children solely with jars of baby food are very rare in Belgium”, adds Georges Scholl.

Changing our habits in food preparation

The conclusions of this research pointed out that the situation in Belgium is not alarmist. “However, we must continue to monitor furan in foodstuffs in order to refine the potential risks.”, declares Georges Scholl. In addition to the results obtained during this study, the researchers made some recommendations to The FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. “It is difficult to take upstream action at the industrial production scale of foodstuffs, but we can work downstream when preparing our food and beverages ”, explains the scientist. “Furan is very volatile compound, it is advisable to shake or stir thoroughly the food in the open-air or in an area with adequate ventilation before eatingt”.  For instance, it is preferable to reheat the foods in a saucepan rather than in a microwave.

Today, the Belgian researchers would like to continue the research by examining the formation and elimination of furan in situ during cooking processes but also with the objectives to assess other pathways of exposure to this volatile molecule such as inhalation and breathing during contaminated food intake. This would better approximate the exposure of the Belgian population to furan but also to take a more integrated view of exposure.