Consultation begins on draft contaminants law
contaminants under newlegislation being proposed by the country's
food regulator.
The measures aim to ensure a harmonised approach to the enforcement of contaminants levels acrossthe EU, which will help to promote consistent and effective regulation by reducing uncertainty ordispute in interpreting results against limits, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) stated inpublishing a consultation on the draft law.
The draft Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2007 would provide enforcement authorities and industry with the necessary legal framework to ensure compliance with EU measures setting maximum levels for specific contaminants.
The EU-wide directive on contaminants is part of the legislative push to increase the safety ofthe food chain, by cutting down the levels of chemical residues found in products, including thoseused as pesticides or as part of the processing cycle.
The European Commission measures include two new allied official control sampling and analysis regulations on dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs and nitrates.
Earlier this year the European Commission revised the directive to widen the scope of limits onheavy metals and mycotoxins in foods, among other changes. The new regulation consolidated andreplaced European Commission regulation 466/2001 and its previous amendments. It would require foodprocessors to take greater care in the sourcing of the ingredients used in their products.
The Commission is also in the process of replacing the sampling and analysis directives with newregulations. The proposals set maximum levels for nitrates in spinach, lettuce, baby foods andprocessed cereal based food for infants and young children.
"Fresh lettuce and spinach are very perishable products and sampling plays an importantrole in the precision of the determination of the levels of nitrates, as well the sample preparationprocedures," the FSA stated. "It is necessary to fix general criteria with whichthe method of analysis should comply in order to ensure that control laboratories use methods ofanalysis with comparable levels of performance."
Other changes include an amendment on measures applying to dried, diluted, processed and compound foodstuffs. It would require food businesses to provide data on the specific concentration or dilution factors used for their products.
Manufacturers using groundnuts, derived products, and cereals must clearly label them indicating their intendeduse, either for feed, food or other purposes.
If a regulator decides a business is not in compliance then it may may apply a concentration or dilution factor deemed to be "most appropriate" for the protection of public health.
Specific rules have been added for products which can be used for feed and food or other purposes. Maximum levels laid down for contaminants as specified in the regulation would apply to groundnuts, derivatives, and cereals.
Businesses must clearly indicate the intended use of their products on the label of each individual packing or on the accompanying document, which must have a clear link with the consignment.
An amendment on mycotoxins widens the scope of the limits on deoxynivalenol and zearalenone to include bran and germ intended for direct human consumption. ran and germ were originally intended to be covered by the regulations limits for fusarium toxins in cereals and cereal products. However, the limits were inadvertently omitted from the published regulations, which came into force on the 1 July 2006.
Another amendment on heavy metals widens the scope of the limits on lead, which currently only applies to cow's milk. Under the new regulation the maximum level will apply to all farmed animals, including sheep and goat milk. Milk products including cheese are already covered under the regulation.
The maximum level for lead in fish has been revised to bring it into line with the recently agreed international Codex limit of 300 mg/kg. The change represents an increase in the general EC limit for fish, currently at 200 mg/kg, and a decrease in the limit for specified fish species, currently at 400 mg/kg.
The proposals also extend the limits set for the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and zearalenone to cereal bran marketed for direct human consumptionand for germination.
In the case of limits set for heavy metals, the maximum levels set for lead would be extended to cover all farm animals,and not just cow's milk.
The limit on levels of cadmium found in the liver and kidney has been extended to include horsemeat. Pine nuts have been excluded from the limits of cadmium set for vegetables and fruit.
In the case of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, farmed game would be excluded from the limits setfor meat and meat products. The limits set for liver, derived products, and fat would be restrictedto bovines, sheep, poultry, pigs.
The FSA noted that industry has "broadly' welcomed the consolidation and amendment of the EUregulations as it simplifies the process of understanding the measures. The FSA said it currently takes internal experts in food businesses two hours to read and understand the currentCommission measures and the current UK regulations on contaminants.
The new regulation will only take one hour to read and understand, a saving of one hour, the FSAargues.
The Commission regulations are expected to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union shortly and will apply from 1 March 2007.
The deadline for comments on the FSA draft law is 12 January 2007.
