2026年1月12日，欧盟食品安全局就一种食品酶木瓜蛋白酶（papain）的安全性评价发布意见。
据了解，这种食品酶是从未成熟番木瓜的胶乳中提取的，旨在用于6种食品生产过程。
经过评估，专家小组认为，不能排除通过饮食接触引起过敏反应的风险。根据所提供的数据，小组得出结论，该食品酶在预期的使用条件下不会引起安全问题。部分原文报道如下：
The food enzyme papain (EC 3.4.22.2) is extracted from the latex of unripe Carica papaya L. by Nagase (Europe) GmbH. It is intended to be used in six food manufacturing processes. The dietary exposure to the food enzyme–total organic solids (TOS) was estimated to be up to 1.112 mg TOS/kg body weight per day. This exposure is up to one order of magnitude lower than the intake of the corresponding fraction from unripe C. papaya L. latex. The toxicological studies provided were not required according to the current guidance, nevertheless, were evaluated as supporting evidence. For the allergenicity assessment, the Panel considered the papain as well as three other cysteine endopeptidases known to be present in the food enzyme. Papain and chymopapain are known food allergens. In addition, homology searches of the amino acid sequences of the four proteins to known allergens identified matches with 6 food and 8 respiratory allergens. The Panel considered that a risk of allergic reactions upon dietary exposure to the food enzyme cannot be excluded. based on the data provided, the origin of the food enzyme being an edible plant source and the estimated dietary exposure, the Panel concluded that the food enzyme does not give rise to safety concerns under the intended conditions of use.
