Risk Assessment of "Other Substances" – Piperine

Abstract

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) has, at the request of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, assessed the risk of intake of 1.5 mg/day of piperine ((E,E)-piperine) in food supplements. Piperine is a naturally occurring alkaloid which is the major pungent compound found in spices like black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and long peppers (Piper longum L.). Using the MOE approach, for a daily intake of 1.5 mg piperine from food supplements and a NOAEL of 5 mg/kg bw per day based on a 90-day toxicity study in rats, the MOE values are 145, 204 and 234 for children (10 to <14 years), adolescents (14 to <18 years) and adults (≥18 years), respectively. Thus, the MOE values are above 100 for all age groups. VKM concludes that it is unlikely that a daily dose of 1.5 mg piperine from food supplements causes adverse health effects in children (10 to <14 years), adolescents (14 to <18 years) and adults (≥18 years). Key