Question

In terms of the hierarchy of information place these into order for use in deriving an acceptable daily intake for a food contaminant? Explain your reasoning.

a) Scientific paper from an academic research institute on a 2 year mouse feeding study,

b) 1 month rodent feeding study conducted to good laboratory practice (GLP) standards,

c) 6 month gavage study in the dog conducted to GLP?

Answer 1

In terms of a hierarchy of information, steps for use in deriving an acceptable daily intake of food contaminant is as follows,

1. Before starting any experiment, one should collect all the study materials and the information that could be available from the previously done works and that has been published.This should be done in order to get knowledge and idea about previously done work.So option a Scientific paper from an academic research institute on a 2-year mouse feeding study, tops the hierarchy, followed by option b, 1-month rodent feeding study conducted to good laboratory practice (GLP) standards, a pilot study can be done on rats or mice (rodents) by maintaining good laboratory practises to understand the effcet of toxicology or an acceptable daily intake for a food contaminant​ and then a 6 month gavage study in the dog c​an be conducted (option c).Oral gavage is a technique where the substance of study is dirctly delivered into the stomach to understand its effect of toxicity or for toxicity testing.