Reports, including some dating back several decades, describe a moldy or musty odor in food (and wine) products due to contamination with trace amounts of halogenated anisole compounds such as 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). An odor attributable to the presence of a halogenated anisole compound can be detected by consumers even when the offending compound is present at parts per billion or lesser levels. An upward trend in consumer complaints about musty or moldy odor led a drug firm to identify TBA as the odor-causing compound. The firm’s investigation of this incident led to the detection of TBA in several oral products. The firm traced all of the contamination back to the use of certain wooden pallets used to transport drug packaging materials. TBA is prone to volatilize and adsorb onto articles stored near the TBA source. Because of their volatility, it appears that even minute levels of halogenated anisole compounds can adversely affect a large quantity of product in a single contamination incident.
