A 90-day dietary study with fibrillated cellulose in Sprague-Dawley rats

This study assesses the 90-day dietary toxicity of fibrillated cellulose, as compared to a conventional cellulose, Solka Floc. Sprague Dawley rats were fed 2%, 3%, or 4% fibrillated cellulose for 90 consecutive days, and parallel Solka Floc groups were used as controls. Survival, clinical observations, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmologic evaluations, hematology, serum chemistry, urinalysis, post-mortem anatomic pathology, and histopathology were monitored and performed. No adverse observations were noted in relation to the administration of fibrillated cellulose. Under the conditions of this study and based on the toxicological endpoints evaluated, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for fibrillated cellulose was 2194.2 mg/kg/day (males) and 2666.6 mg/kg/day (females), corresponding to the highest dose tested (4%) for male and female Sprague Dawley rats. These results demonstrate that fibrillated cellulose behaves similarly to conventional cellulose and raises no safety concerns when used as a food ingredient at these concentrations.
Source: Toxicology Reports - Category: Toxicology Source Type: research