Abstract:Flavor can provide, supplement and stabilize the flavor in modified milk. Due to the characteristic of “self-limiting” and low dosage, less attention has been paid to its potential safety risk. The contents of 19 concerned flavor ingredients in 100 commercial modified milk samples from 25 brands were analyzed through SPME-GC-MS/MS in MRM mode which was evaluated methodologically. Benzaldehyde (100%), 2,3-butanedione (96%), linalool (88%) and hexyl alcohol (86%) were detected at higher rate. Vanillin (18886.03μg/kg), ethyl maltol (6271.15μg/kg), maltol (2522.64μg/kg) and benzyl alcohol (1937.60μg/kg) were detected at high average levels with the detection rates at 47%, 71%, 40% and 30%, respectively. The contents of flavor ingredients in different samples were greatly varied, even if in the samples with same taste from different brands. The exposure level and safety risk of the 19 concerned flavor ingredients were assessed accordingly based on the survey results of the daily intake of modified milk in different populations. Both the exposure analysis of the whole population and different populations showed that the per capita daily intake (PCI) of ethyl maltol and vanillin exceeded the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) in some cases, which varied among different populations, but the overall risk was low. There was no safety risk for the rest of concerned flavor ingredients under the current intake of modified milk.