Determination of the genotoxic effects of flavoring food additives, lactitol and mannitol

There has been an increase in the consumption of ready-made foodwith the change in dietary habits in the world. The use of additives in foods was also increasedwith this situation Determining the amounts of food additives that can be used safely has been the subject of research for many years. Because the possible effects of these chemicals on health continue to be a matter of discussion. In this study, the in vitro genotoxic effects of Mannitol and Lactitol used as sweeteners were evaluated in human peripheral lymphocytes by chromosomal abnormalities (CA) and micronucleus (MN) assays. In addition, the effects of these sweeteners on the mitotic index (MI) and nuclear division index (NBI) were also investigated. Concentrations of 500, 1000, 2000, 4000 and 8000 μg/mL were used for mannitol and 250, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 μg/mL for lactitol. In the assaysapplied, it was observed that the two different additivesdid not affect the chromosomal abnormality frequency per cell and the percentage of abnormal cells at all concentrations and treatments, did not cause a significant change in the micronucleus frequency and nuclear division index values compared to the control. In the mitotic index values, a significant decrease was observed at the concentrations of 2000, 4000 and 8000 µg/mL of Mannitol and 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 µg/mL of Lactitol in 24 and 48h treatments, compared to the control. As a result, it was observed that mannitol and lactitol did not have a significant genotoxic effect at the concentrations used in human lymphocytes in vitro.