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Mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH)

In the body: They build up in body fat and the liver, but in the rat study EFSA relied on, no harm appeared up to the highest dose tested, and EFSA judged present intakes of no concern.

Not rated by dose: a flag on 4 reviewed foods, among them extra virgin olive oil, Mayonnaise and Soybean oil. The list below has a line for each of 7 preparations.

Background. Shown, not scored: no dose basis at normal intake, a classification rather than a risk, or legal limits only.

See also: Mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH)

All hazards

The reference value and where it comes from

  • The agency’s figureno agency dose value
  • Basismineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH): reference point no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day, EFSA 2023 mineral oil opinion; EFSA: present exposure does not raise concern
  • Source PubMed 37711880

Reviewed foods that carry it

4 reviewed foods carry it; none is rated by dose. A food counts once, as in the foods list: preparations sharing a page (raw and cooked, canned) count once; one with its own page counts apart. Below, one line for each of 7 preparations.

How often you can eat it

No food here is rated by dose. Each line says why it’s listed: a flag for the people the source names, advice on handling it, or context.

  1. Olive oil, extra virgin

    Nothing to watch

    0.087 mg
    per serving

    PubMed 37711880 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Serving carries 0.087 mg mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) = 0.00124 mg/kg body weight/day; EFSA reference point no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day gives MoE about 189,728; EFSA concluded present MOSH exposure 'does not raise concern'. Olive POMACE oil is a different product (mean 108.7 mg/kg).

    Intake: one 9.07 g (10 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 9.6 mg/kg (mean, n = 299)

    Measured on: agency category mean, European: EFSA 2023 Table 8 'Olive oils' = virgin/extra-virgin AND refined pooled (n = 299 samples, 2011-2021); not extra-virgin-specific, not Canadian

Flags and context, not rated by dose

  • Canola oil

    Context

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Context hazard (EFSA 2023 no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day; 'present dietary exposure to mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) does not raise concern'): a serving = 0.033-0.065 mg = 0.00047-0.00093 mg/kg body weight/day; MoE against the NOAEL 254,066-503,849. No cap.

    Intake: one 9.21 g (10 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 3.56 mg/kg (mean (lower bound 3.56; upper bound 7.06 stored in scope), n = 495)

    Measured on: EFSA 2023 (European data, FoodEx2 food group 'Rape seed oil, edible'), 495 samples, 54% left-censored; mean lower bound 3.56 and upper bound 7.06 mg/kg; not Canadian retail

  • Coconut oil

    Context

    0.264 mg
    per serving
    mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH)

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Context (EFSA 2023: no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day; 'present dietary exposure to mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) does not raise concern'). One 10.0 g serving 0.264 mg = 0.0038 mg/kg body weight/day; margin against the NOAEL 62,623. No cap.

    Intake: one 10.0 g serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 26.38 mg/kg (mean, middle bound derived as (lower bound 25.91 + upper bound 26.85) / 2, n = 253)

    Measured on: EFSA CONTAM 2023, Table 8 (mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) mean values used for exposure), 'Coconut oil/fat', 253 samples, 2% left-censored, European data.

  • Corn oil

    Context

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Context hazard (EFSA 2023 no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day; 'present dietary exposure to mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) does not raise concern'): a serving = 0.042-0.055 mg = 0.00059-0.00079 mg/kg body weight/day; MoE against the NOAEL 298,950-397,717. No cap.

    Intake: one 9.21 g (10 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 4.51 mg/kg (mean (lower bound 4.51; upper bound 6.0 stored in scope), n = 37)

    Measured on: EFSA 2023 (European data, FoodEx2 food group 'Maize oil, edible'), 37 samples, 19% left-censored; mean lower bound 4.51 and upper bound 6.0 mg/kg; not Canadian retail

  • Mayonnaise

    Context

    0.0075 mg
    per serving
    mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) (upper bound)

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Shown as context, not rated. Against EFSA's reference point for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) (no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day, 2023), a serving at the upper bound carries 0.0075 mg, 0.000108 mg/kg body weight/day, a margin of about 2,193,017. 16 of 17 samples found essentially no MOSH.

    Intake: one 13.95 g (15 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 0.54 mg/kg (mean, upper bound (lower bound 0.06), n = 17)

    Measured on: EFSA 2023 mineral oil hydrocarbons opinion, Table 8, FoodEx2 level 4 'Mayonnaise, hollandaise and related sauces': 17 samples, 94% left-censored, mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) mean lower bound 0.06 and upper bound 0.54 mg/kg (European data). No mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) row for this group in Table 9.

  • Soybean oil

    Context

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Context hazard (EFSA 2023 no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day; 'present dietary exposure to mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) does not raise concern'): a serving = 0.061-0.071 mg = 0.00087-0.00102 mg/kg body weight/day; MoE against the NOAEL 232,044-271,773. No cap.

    Intake: one 9.21 g (10 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 6.6 mg/kg (mean (lower bound 6.6; upper bound 7.73 stored in scope), n = 126)

    Measured on: EFSA 2023 (European data, FoodEx2 food group 'Soya bean oil, refined'), 126 samples, 18% left-censored; mean lower bound 6.6 and upper bound 7.73 mg/kg; not Canadian retail

  • Sunflower oil

    Context

    DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8215 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Context hazard (EFSA 2023 no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) 236 mg/kg body weight/day; 'present dietary exposure to mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) does not raise concern'): a serving = 0.035-0.062 mg = 0.00050-0.00088 mg/kg body weight/day; MoE against the NOAEL 267,717-473,272. No cap.

    Intake: one 9.21 g (10 mL) serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 3.79 mg/kg (mean (lower bound 3.79; upper bound 6.7 stored in scope), n = 666)

    Measured on: EFSA 2023 (European data, FoodEx2 food group 'Sunflower seed oil, edible'), 666 samples, 38% left-censored; mean lower bound 3.79 and upper bound 6.7 mg/kg; not Canadian retail

Sources