# Animal Dietary Exposure to Methylxanthines through the Inclusion of Former Food Products (FFPs) in Feed

## TL;DR

This study examines how adding former food products containing methylxanthines to animal diets affects their health, finding that while mostly safe, some scenarios could be harmful.

## Contribution

The study introduces a detailed evaluation of methylxanthine concentrations in former food products and their dietary impact on animals.

## Key findings

- TB levels in FFPs ranged from 59.6 to 1147.1 μg/g and CF from 9.3 to 118.1 μg/g.
- Most FFPs complied with EU maximum levels when included at 30% in animal diets.
- Piglets' maximum exposure scenarios exceeded reported no-observed adverse effect levels for TB.

## Abstract

Former food products (FFPs) are increasingly recognized
as sustainable
feed ingredients. While nutritionally valuable, FFPs may contain cocoa-based
confectionery, which is a source of methylxanthines such as theobromine
(TB) and caffeine (CF) and can impact animal health. This study quantified
TB and CF concentrations in 12 FFPs using HPLC-UV, evaluated FFP inclusion
rates in animals’ diets against European Union (EU) maximum
levels (MLs), and dietary exposure against toxicological thresholds.
TB levels ranged from 59.6 to 1147.1 μg/g and CF from 9.3 to
118.1 μg/g. All products, except one, complied with EU MLs when
included at 30% in the diet (on a dry basis). Modeled animal dietary
exposure (ADE) indicated that, in most proposed species, TB intake
was below safety thresholds; however, the maximum exposure scenarios
in piglets exceeded reported no-observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL).
These findings highlight the need for species-specific and production-stage-specific
evaluations and accurate quantification of methylxanthines when formulating
diets with FFPs.