A review of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the packaged fruits, vegetables and cereals and their products; occurrence, risk assessment and estrogenicity.

Despite the nutritional benefits of fruits, vegetables and cereals (FVC), the presence of emerging pollutants (EP) may endanger human health. To date, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), as one category of EPs, have been investigated in packaged food due to their frequent use as plasticizers and antioxidants in food contact material (FCM). However, there are knowledge gaps in interpreting sources, influencing factors and associated health risks of EDCs in packaged FVC. This review, for the first time, focuses on the comparison of EDCs occurrence in FVC on a worldwide scale, their estrogen activities and the associated risk due to consumption of the packaged FVC and their processed products. The migration of BPA exceeded the permissible limit in some canned FVCs and their processed products compared to other EDCs. Besides the contamination of raw FVC, the presence of EDCs in the packaged FVC processed products was associated with their preprocessing and preparation. Furthermore, storage conditions such as time, temperature, and shelf life have been introduced as influencing factors on the EDC levels in FVC and their products. It should be noted that the level of contamination was notably associated with the type of FVCs and their FCMs. Despite the lower mean estrogen potency and non-carcinogenic risk of EDCs, unacceptable 50th and 95th percentiles of hazard quotient (HQ) for both BPA and DEHP may pose public health concerns in the exposed population. Moreover, covering FVC processed products with plastic can be a concern, especially in the case of DEHP. In addition to FVC, attention to the occurrence of EDCs in other packaged food categories and assessment of their synergistic associated risk is suggested. Furthermore, the establishment of guidelines for acceptable levels of EDCs in the packaged FVC and their products is vital.