Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37513219›Full record

ArticleMolecules (Basel, Switzerland)2023

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Food on the Italian Market.

Mariantonietta Peloso, Gaetan Minkoumba Sonfack, Sandra Paduano, Michele De Martino, Barbara De Santis, Elisabetta Caprai

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. A Review of the Main Biologically Active Compounds of the GenusPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Mariantonietta PelosoNational Reference Laboratory for Plant Toxins in Food, Food Chemical Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Via Fiorini 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-1432-6610
Gaetan Minkoumba SonfackNational Reference Laboratory for Plant Toxins in Food, Food Chemical Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Via Fiorini 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
Sandra PaduanoMinistry of Health, General Directorate for Hygiene and Food Safety and Nutrition, Via G. Ribotta, 5, 00144 Rome, Italy.
Michele De MartinoMinistry of Health, General Directorate for Hygiene and Food Safety and Nutrition, Via G. Ribotta, 5, 00144 Rome, Italy.
Barbara De SantisNational Reference Laboratory for Plant Toxins in Food, Food Chemical Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4210-2796
Elisabetta CapraiNational Reference Laboratory for Plant Toxins in Food, Food Chemical Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Via Fiorini 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-6245-4196

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are secondary metabolites produced by over 6000 plant species worldwide. PAs enter the food chain through accidental co-harvesting of PA-containing weeds and through soil transfer from the living plant to surrounding acceptor plants. In animal studies, 1,2-unsaturated PAs have proven to be genotoxic carcinogens. According to the scientific opinion expressed by the 2017 EFSA, the foods with the highest levels of PA contamination were honey, tea, herbal infusions, and food supplements. Following the EFSA's recommendations, data on the presence of PAs in relevant food were monitored and collected. On 1 July 2022, the Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2040 came into force, repealed by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, setting maximum levels for the sum of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in certain food. A total of 602 food samples were collected from the Italian market between 2019 and 2022 and were classified as honey, pollen, dried tea, dried herbal infusions, dried herbs, and fresh borage leaves. The food samples were analyzed for their PA content via an in-house LC-MS/MS method that can detect PAs according to Regulation 2023/915. Overall, 42% of the analyzed samples were PA-contaminated, 14% exceeded the EU limits, and the items most frequently contaminated included dried herbs and tea. In conclusion, the number of food items containing considerable amounts of PAs may cause concern because they may contribute to human exposure, especially considering vulnerable populations-most importantly, children and pregnant women.

Indexed as

HoneyPyrrolizidine AlkaloidsAnimalsChildChromatography, LiquidFemaleFood ContaminationHumansPlantsPregnancyTandem Mass SpectrometryTeaPyrrolizidine AlkaloidsTeadried herbal infusionsdried herbsdried teafresh borage leaveshoneylycopsamine-typepollenpyrrolizidine alkaloids

Identifiers

PMID37513219
PMCPMC10385305

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.