FAO Nutrition Meetings
    Resort Series No. 44A
    WHO/Food Add./68.33




    TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF SOME
    FLAVOURING SUBSTANCES AND
    NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENING AGENTS





    Geneva, 21-28 August 1967



    The Eleventh Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
    Additives is published as FAO Nutrition Meetings Report Series,
    1967, No. 44; Wld Hlth Org. techn. Rep. Ser., 1968, 383. This
    Report contains general considerations, including the principles
    adopted for the evaluation, and a summary of the results of the
    evaluations of a number of food additives. Additional information,
    such as biological data and a toxicological evaluation, considered at
    that meeting, is to be found in this document.


    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
    World Health Organization
    1967


    ETHYL BUTYRATE

    Chemical name                 Ethyl butanoate

    Empirical formula             C6H12O2

    Structural formula            CH3CH2CH2COOC2H5

    Molecular weight              116.16

    Definition                    Ethyl butyrate contains not less than 97
                                  per cent. C6H12O2.

    Description                   Ethyl butyrate may be prepared by the
                                  esterification of normal butyric acid
                                  with alcohol. It is a colourless liquid
                                  with a fruity odour

    Biological data

    Biolochemical aspects

         This ester is hydrolysed by pancreatic lipase to ethyl alcohol
    and butyric acid (Oppenheimer, 1925; Nishida, 1957).

    Acute toxicity

                                                                       

    Animal      Route       LD50                 References
                            (mg/kg 
                            body-weight)
                                                                       

    Rat         oral        13 050               Jenner et al., 1964
                                                                       

    Short-term studies

         Rat. In a feeding experiment on 15 males and 15 females for 12
    weeks no adverse effect was noted at 14.4 mg/kg body-weight/day (Oser,
    1967).

    Long-term studies

         None available.

    Comments

         This compound hydrolyzes into normal constituents of food.
    Evaluation is based on this and the short-term studies. Further
    biochemical and metabolic studies are considered desirable.

    EVALUATION

    Estimate of acceptable daily intake for man

                                       mg/kg body-weight

         Unconditional acceptance           0-15

    REFERENCES

    Fassett, D. W. (1963) ln: Patty, F. A., Inductrial Hygiene and
    Toxicology, Second Edition, interscience, New York & London

    Jenner, P. M., Hagan, E. C., Taylor, J. M.., Cook, E. L. & Fitzhugh,
    O. G. (1964) Fd Cosmet. Toxicol., 2, 327

    Nishida, M. (1957) Yakugaku Zasshi, 77, 1141

    Oppenheimer, C. (1925) Die Fermente und ihre Wirkungen, Leipzig, p.
    233

    Oser, B. L. (1967) Unpnblished report
    

    See Also:
       Toxicological Abbreviations
       ETHYL BUTYRATE (JECFA Evaluation)